Have Fulham failed Marco Silva in this transfer window?

Jack Stroudley looks back at Fulham’s incomings (or lack of) in the January transfer window.

Fulham and deadline day usually go hand in hand. Tony Khan and Alistair Mackintosh circle the day in their calendar; they spring into life and hand out deal sheets like they’re going out of fashion. This time round it was a bit different. Despite pleas from Fulham manager Marco Silva for a full-back and right-winger, those calls were left unanswered with the club deciding to bring back 36-year-old Willian for a third spell. There’s been a bit of debate online about whether Willian is a good signing and while this article will explore this slightly, it’ll more look at the board and whether they have let a golden opportunity slip between their fingers.

Samba strikes again

Fulham need bodies, given the injuries to Reiss Nelson and Harry Wilson in forward areas there were strong calls for Fulham to bring some added quality in our attacking line, to bring in someone who would be more direct and Willian seems to have answered those calls. I think you could argue either side of the coin with this one: he provides depth, quality and experience in abundance and can be that direct option we’ve often called for to change some of our many draws into wins – on a short-term deal, we could do a lot worse.

I obviously want Willian to succeed but I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the reports late on Monday night. Replacing a 35-year-old Willian with a 36-year-old Willian when just a season earlier we re-signed a 35-year-old Willian to replace a 34-year-old Willian is as Tony Khan as it gets. Willian’s best performances for Fulham came on the left, cutting inside and driving at defenders. Unfortunately for the Brazilian that position seems to be locked down by Alex Iwobi and given the injury to Welshman Wilson, Willian will likely feature on the right where he often flattered to deceive.

Tumbleweeds at Motspur

There are quite a few arguments you can make for and against when discussing a January window so I’ll try my best to summarise. For me, the board have once again failed Marco Silva. Fulham currently sit one point off of eighth (a projected European place given the additional spot England are likely to get) with a huge opportunity to do something special, and while other clubs around us have strengthened, we’ve stood still.

The argument is often that January is a difficult month to do business and while I agree to an extent, that’s no excuse for not taking a proactive approach. Marco Silva has said throughout all of January that we need to add quality, we’ve failed him by not bringing in sufficient cover for Castagne, adequality filling the Wilson-shaped hole and overall failing to improve the squad.

I simply do not get the notion that we must wait until the end of the window on every occasion because that’s when deals are cheaper. We’ve received a record transfer fee twice in the past 18 months and made a pretty penny on Jay Stansfield – so spend it. How often are the likes of Manchester United and Spurs going to be as poor as they currently are? How many more chances are we going to get to back Marco Silva and push for a European place? Silva will naturally be a man in demand once again and if he were to leave, I wouldn’t blame him – he’s been failed again.