David Healy reveals the Fulham player who he thinks can help lead Cottagers to promotion | OneFootball

Ex-Fulham striker David Healy believes summer signing Harry Wilson will be the man who leads the Cottagers back to the Premier League at the first time of asking this season, speaking in an interview with the South London Press.

24-year-old winger Wilson arrived on a £12m deal from former Premier League champions Liverpool last month, signing a five-year deal at Craven Cottage in the most expensive deal in the second tier so far this summer.

Wilson is a fully established international player for Wales and represented his nation in this summer’s European Championships – but was unlikely to get a chance over the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota at Anfield anytime soon.

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And with 18-year-old Harvey Elliott arriving back on Merseyside after enjoying a successful temporary spell at Blackburn Rovers, the Reds’ boss Jurgen Klopp has dubbed the winger as his ‘new midfielder’, making Wilson’s and Xherdan Shaqiri’s exits a possibility.

After going out on to Derby County, AFC Bournemouth and Cardiff City in the past few years, impressing at all three clubs, Wilson will be hoping to thrive in the Championship once again and has the perfect opportunity to do so at a club expecting to be pushing for promotion this term.

He scored seven goals and recorded 12 assists for the Bluebirds in his 37 Championship appearances last season – and has already managed to get on the scoresheet for Marco Silva’s side in the 2021/22 campaign – but was sent off against Huddersfield Town in their second league game after kicking out at Levi Colwill.

Despite this, former Fulham forward David Healy believes the 24-year-old will be vital in their promotion push after his arrival from Liverpool and in an interview with the South London Press, he said: “I like the signings that they made, obviously Harry Wilson, who has ability and technically he’s very good.

“Probably Harry will eventually go and be a Premier League player, because he’s got all the attributes.

“He will help Fulham to get where they need to get to this year, to the Premier League. It’s a tough league but it would be great if they get promoted.”

The Verdict:

Harry Wilson lost his discipline for the second time in just a few months at Huddersfield, with the winger also being sent off late on against Denmark in the European Championships earlier this summer.

If he can retain his discipline, which will be a challenge to do considering the number of fouls he could potentially draw from the opposition this season, there’s no doubt Marco Silva’s side will be right up there come the end of the season.

The Cottagers’ last two games against Millwall and Hull City shows they can cope without him, but the Welshman is different class and probably good enough to compete in the Premier League already after spending time on loan with AFC Bournemouth during the 2019/20 season and appearing regularly in the top flight.

This is why the 24-year-old is worth the eight-figure fee it took to bring him to west London. It may have been a risky move with Fulham now having to operate within the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules and a reduction in revenue from Covid-19.

But the revenue they generated from their time in the Premier League has seemingly paid dividends with this deal – and it will be an exciting prospect to see him light up the Championship again.

Wilson has been consistently fit in recent seasons, so there’s no reason why he shouldn’t play a big part in their promotion charge.