Silva hoping youngster Francois will stay

By

Boss Marco Silva remains hopeful young Fulham midfielder Tyrese Francois will sign a new contract but admits his future is out of the club’s hands.

On the pitch, Fulham remain on course for promotion according to online casinos australia and other betting sites.

Francois made his Whites debut in the final match of the 2020/21 Premier League season, against Newcastle, and was named in the starting line-up for the opening match of the campaign against Middlesbrough.



However, a combination of injury and an abundance of central midfield options available to Silva has seen the 20-year-old Australian slip down the pecking order, with a 65-minute appearance in the FA Cup third round match against Bristol City his only first-team outing since August.

Francois, who has been with Fulham since he was 14, has refused the offer of a new deal due to a lack of first-team opportunities and will be free to leave at the end of the season when his contract expires.

But Silva insists he holds Francois, who has been one of the stand-out players in the Premier League 2 Division 2 championship-winning side, in high regard and wants him stay at Craven Cottage, but resigned to the fact he may leave.

“There is no big news about the contract to be honest, at this moment it is in Ty’s hands,” Silva said.

“Myself as a manager, I have shown I have trust in him and told him what I think about his present and his future.

“It is up to him now, he needs to be clear in his mind what he wants now.

“Apart from Fabio (Carvalho) the only young player who impressed me more was Ty and I believe in him.”

Silva also defended his decision to not give Francois more first-team action and said the physical nature of the Championship is something that goes against a player who has struggled to stay fit.

“He had another injury that stopped him for longer than we expected which happened when Mika Seri was in action in the Africa Cup of Nations,” he said.

“That could have been a good chance for him but he wasn’t able to play.

“Sometimes it is difficult for him in the Championship because it is really physical and that is not the strongest part of his game.

“But when the game is played quickly Ty has the talent to be a very good midfielder but let’s see what he decides, but we will keep helping him to develop into a very good footballer.”