Marco Silva has fired a warning to Fulham that selling their best players every year is stalling the club’s progress.
Since their promotion back to the Premier League in 2022, Fulham have been guided by Silva to 10th and 13th-place finishes, and they currently sit ninth with 11 matches left to play this season.
In that time, a number of key players have been sold. Striker Aleksandar Mitrovic joined Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal for around £46million in August 2023.
Then, last summer, Bayern Munich signed midfielder Joao Palhinha from the Cottagers for a fee of up to £47.5m and centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo let his contract expire and joined rivals Chelsea as a free agent.
The likes of Rodrigo Muniz and Raul Jimenez, Sasa Lukic and Calvin Bassey have emerged as key men in place of those who have departed, but Silva believes Fulham, who face Brighton on Saturday, could progress at a faster rate on the pitch if they held onto valuable assets.
“Our object, even losing players, is always to have better results and to achieve better things,” he said.
“You can lose important players, [but] we can sign new ones that can be more important players in the future for us, and that is the most important thing.”
Asked whether having to rebuild his team each year is a source of annoyance, the Portuguese replied: “That is reality. If I’m not frustrated or not, I’m not going to change it. I cannot change it.
“In some moments, even if I would like to keep all of them and improve, to reinforce the squad, that is the reality of the club. We have to look at it as a challenge — no more than that — don’t cry about it.
“Okay, we have to find solutions. The club can take steps forward quicker if we don’t sell players, but that is the reality. We must find solutions.”
