Marco Silva has revealed that Emile Smith Rowe’s “desire and passion” to join Fulham convinced him to press ahead with the signing of the forward from Arsenal for a club-record fee that could rise to £34m.
Smith Rowe has already scored twice in pre-season for Fulham as they prepare to travel to Old Trafford on Friday night for the opening match of the Premier League season against Manchester United. The 24-year-old, who was also wanted by Crystal Palace, found the net in friendlies against Hoffenheim and Sevilla as he begins to settle into life in west London.
After a summer during which several stars have departed, including the key midfielder João Palhinha, the arrival of Smith Rowe has certainly lifted Silva’s mood. The Fulham manager predicted that he “will be more impressed in the future” with his new signing after he regains full fitness following a season spent largely on the sidelines at Arsenal.
“The main thing for me was to feel the desire and passion for Emile to come to our football club,” Silva said. “That made me really push our board and convince them that he is going to be the right guy to have. I know that he is going to make our fans love him – it’s like a statement for us. I know that last season was tough in terms of minutes played but he is a top talent who we want to make him play at his best level.
“He hasn’t played games consistently so it’s going to be a process for him to be in his best physical condition, but we have already seen that he can make an impact. He can make a difference. Two goals in two games is a good start.”
Silva confirmed that Fulham are in the market for a replacement for Palhinha, the Portugal midfielder who joined Bayern Munich last month for a reported £42.3m, plus a potential £4.2m in add-ons. They have also submitted a second bid worth a potential £30m for Joachim Andersen that remains short of Crystal Palace’s valuation, with Aston Villa’s Diego Carlos believed to be another target following the departures of Tim Ream and Tosin Adarabioyo in the summer.
With Willian and Bobby De Cordova-Reid the other notable exits from Fulham, Silva acknowledged that there are not many other teams in the Premier League who have lost three or four first-team players and believes more reinforcements are still required.
“We have a lot of work to do in the market because we need it,” he said. “We have to rebuild again like last season when we lost Aleksandar Mitrovic.”
