Fulham fans may need to be patient with Maja, says Parker

Fulham fans will need to be patient with Josh Maja, according to Scott Parker.

The club’s deadline-day signing may need time to adjust to the Premier League, especially as he comes from France’s Ligue 1, where Maxime Le Marchand and Jean-Michael Seri have returned on loan after failing to impress.

Neither cut it in England’s top flight, and although Maja proved his worth to Bordeaux, the Whites head coach is not sure how quickly the striker will readjust to English football.

“In Josh we feel there’s potential,” Parker said. “He scored a lot for Sunderland, albeit in League One.

“He missed the Championship and went to France, so the next challenge is can he produce that in the Premier League?

“He’s a natural finisher; he’s got good habits in that. But I think it would be very unfair to put the pressure on a young player who’s not worked around this level.

“He may need some time. he may hit the ground running.

“He’s someone I want to work with and if he’s engaged with us, and I hear he is, we’ll be fine.”

It helps that Maja is a Londoner, one who started out with Crystal Palace and then Fulham before getting his league chance with Sunderland.

Parker said: “The window that Josh has to come into this football club (where he needs to) hit the ground running and win football matches in the Premier League, you need to try and eradicate as many factors that could stall that.

“And one of the factors is are they familiar with the area, have they lived in London or England before? Language? English League?

“So, certainly there’s some different factors there to tick a box for Josh as well as his qualities and his ability so we hope that helps in his settling-in period.”