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Report: PL boss thinks ‘outstanding’ Liverpool man isn’t good enough for his system; pulled out of signing him
Fulham have pulled away from the race to sign Liverpool defender Neco Williams because Marco Silva has concerns over him in a back four.
The report that the club with which the Welshman spent the second half of last season on loan are not keen to buy him this summer.
That has handed Nottingham Forest a freer run at Williams, who are planning to use him as a right wing-back in a five-man defence.
But the report says Silva is not sure about playing Williams in a back four in the Premier League for the newly-promoted Cottagers.
Fulham unsure about Neco Williams
Williams of course played in a back four when he got into the Liverpool team, as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s understudy.
Jurgen Klopp sets his side up in a certain way, which gets his full-backs so far forward, but that is not possible for a Fulham side who will be battling relegation.
Alexander-Arnold has never been fully trusted by England manager Gareth Southgate, and perhaps this feeds into the same issue.
Liverpool play a way which gets their full-backs into threatening areas, leaving spaces behind which are covered by teammates, but that is unique and not transferrable to sides with lesser capabilities.
Williams is versatile and plays on the left of a back five for Wales, with whom he will be hoping to go to World Cup 2022 later this year.
He has been described as ‘outstanding‘, but his progress stalled slightly at Anfield, and Calvin Ramsay has now come in as Alexander-Arnold’s understudy.
Williams needs a move for the good of his career, and perhaps he can even prove Silva wrong along the way.