Harry Wilson has issued a hopeful come-and-get-him plea to Fulham for Liverpool's Neco Williams.
Wilson opened up on the half-season spent with Williams in London as the pair led Fulham to Premier League promotion under Marco Silva. The Fulham star, who made two appearances for the Reds and joined the Cottagers permanently having initially joined on loan last summer, a dmitted Williams’ decision to leave the Anfield confines in January in a hunt for first-team football was not without Wilson’s influence.
“Obviously, Neco had the option halfway through the year to get some game time with Fulham and I spoke to him beforehand. I thought the way we played, the style of football at Fulham, suited him and he came in in January and it was like he had been there for the full year,” Wilson said.
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“He’d done really well, managed to get a couple of assists, few goals as well, lots of minutes under his belt.”
While Wilson has also voiced hope that Williams might follow in his footsteps by leaving Liverpool and returning to the Londoners next season.
“Neco was at a similar age that I was when I had my first loan to Hull, and I feel like when you’re at that age, 20-21, when you need to get first-team football,” he said.
“He was in a decent position at Liverpool to learn from the best right-back in the world but it came a point where he had to go get minutes for himself and it has benefited him massively. Everyone can see that when he puts on a Wales shirt.
“I think we can see from his performance the other day that did him a world of good," Wilson said. "And who knows? Maybe he can come back next year.”
Williams’ half-season loan to Fulham marked the sharpest and most blistering form of the 21-year-old’s senior career as he topped it off with promotion to the Premier League. In his 14 appearances for Marco Silva’s scintillating outfit, Williams’ registered two goals and two assists and routinely left Fulham cooing over his effervescent displays at full-back.
Williams elaborated on that developing theme against Ukraine in Wales’ World Cup play-off final on Sunday. The routine ease with which he slipped out from under defenders attempting to pin him against a touchline was already a collector’s item, but William’s robust defensive efforts – five clearances, five tackles and 58 touches to lead Wales’ stats – seized the headlines in this latest edition of Williams in a Wales shirt.
Between Williams and uncompromising Spurs’ centre-back Ben Davies, the duo combined for 44 per cent of Wales’ clearances, tackles, interceptions and blocked shots. That last summer Williams’ minutes in Euro2020 came primarily as a substitute is testament to his rollicking rise in form.
As reported by the ECHO on Tuesday, Liverpool have slapped a £15million price tag on the full-back as they prepare for an influx of interest. The Reds have already fielded a number of calls regarding Williams, with Fulham among those looking to seal a permanent transfer with Cottagers boss Marco Silva having previously expressed his admiration.
And while the Reds want £15m for his services - similar to the asking price for Nat Phillips, who shone in a similar loan move to Bournemouth - they will be more than happy to keep a player who came through the Academy ranks and has made 33 senior appearances, although he has played only 84 minutes in the Premier League since December 2020 with Trent Alexander-Arnold the clear first-choice right-back.
Liverpool are nevertheless looking to strengthen their options in the position with the signing of 18-year-old Calvin Ramsay from Aberdeen. They will offer a deal worth around £4m plus add-ons, and are waiting for the Scotland under-21 international to decide whether he wants a move to Anfield before pursuing the transfer.
