April 20, (THEWILL) – Fulham has returned to the English Premier League with what is becoming a cycle for the side that sees the team being promoted or demoted from the top division every summer since 2017.
Fulham were able to fulfil their season target, thanks to two goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic, who now has 40 goals for the season, and another from Fabio Carvalho, two of the season’s stars.
The promotion means Marco Silva will take charge of his fourth Premier League team in less than five years, and he has almost as much to prove as Fulham. His club is more than deserving of their promotion, having not finished outside the top two since the 13th match of the season and scoring 98 goals, 33 more than anybody else.
However, as Norwich and Watford have demonstrated this season, and as the Cottagers are well aware, Championship dominance is no guarantee of comfort in August. The Riverside Stand, which is still under construction but already stands tall, indicates modernity as a possible solution to Fulham’s yo-yo status.
Shahid Khan, the club’s American billionaire owner, will have to keep digging deep after spending close to £100 million on players for the disastrous 2018-19 season and reporting losses of £93 million for the similarly dismal 2020-21 season.
Even if promotion was accomplished with flair and exciting, enterprising football, Khan must undoubtedly add to a similar group of players that came down under Scott Parker and Silva.
Fulham would have been happy to just go across the line after defeats to Coventry and Derby. The defeat of West Bromwich Albion by Nottingham Forest had added stress to what could have been a promotion party from the start.
Preston, who had been on a good run and did not have to worry about relegation or promotion, could have been slick. The preparations for avoiding summer repeat of going back down to the championship must begin now.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
