Opinion: Fulham loanee may need to head to the back of the line upon his return to the side

He may be of some use to us in the future, but I don’t think he’d be the grand saviour of all things.

That’s my takeaway from an article I spotted about a Fulham loanee.

I spotted this article over on FootballFanCast where they detailed how Alfie Mawson could be seen as something of the ‘future’ when it comes to the centre-back position at Fulham when he returns from his loan at Bristol City, and how we would be better off using him than spending money on big-time centre-backs, with Milan Skriniar getting a nod on that occasion.

I must say that there are some valid points raised, but even if we don’t decide to go down the road of spending a vast sum of money on a new defender somewhere down the line, I don’t think it should necessarily be Mawson that immediately jumps to the front of the line as it were.

However it must be said that Tosin Adarabioyo and Joachim Andersen have finally started to get their respective acts together, with the defence now conceding a more reasonable amount of goals per game than they were at the start of the campaign. And if they can keep that up, then who knows what they could be about to achieve.

I’m not putting them in the same boat as the famous Thames Barrier partnership duo of Brede Hangeland and Aaron Hughes just yet, but it’s clear to see form the way we play and the results that things are starting to get better and better.

And if we had to go into next season, whichever division we are in with that back two (factoring in Andersen is only here on loan so we’d need to make that permanent), alongside the likes of Michael Hector to give some strength in depth, that’s not a bad group to choose from in my eyes.

Would Mawson be a good option to have in the rotation as the 3^rd or 4^th choice centre-back? Absolutely, but there’s a reason he was loaned out to start with, and that’s because he doesn’t come across as someone you want to rely on week in and week out in the Premier League.

What about you? Do you think Mawson has a future at the club?