Antonee Robinson to Fulham has happened, as the youngster has his chance in the Premier League and the USMNT left back will battle to become a regular in the top-flight.
Fulhamerica is returning as Robinson signed a four-year deal at Craven Cottage.
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Several Premier League teams were chasing Robinson, 23, who was in sensational form for Wigan Athletic in the second tier last season.
But due to Wigan going into administration, their 12-point penalty saw them relegated to the third-tier on the final day of the 2019-20 Championship season. The Everton academy product, who joined Wigan permanently in the summer of 2019 after a successful loan spell, almost joined AC Milan in January but a medical uncovered a heart issue which required surgery and the deal fell through.
Robinson has recovered superbly from that setback and several Premier League clubs including West Brom, Newcastle, West Ham and Sheffield United were battling to sign him for $2.6 million.
Fulham won the race to sign Robinson and he is delighted to be making the step up.
“I am made up to be a Fulham player. I was really excited to get down here and get everything signed. When the lads get back in here, I can’t wait to get going,” Robinson said. “I heard a few days ago that Scott Parker was interested in me and wanted to speak to me personally. We had a zoom call and he was really keen to get the deal done and for me to be a Fulham player. Fulham play a really nice style of football and I can see myself fitting in perfectly. As soon as I heard of the ambitions of the club it was an easy decision for me.”
Fulham director of operations Tony Khan added that Robinson “works hard and is known for being an excellent teammate with a great attitude, and he’s been a valued contributor everywhere he’s played in recent years, in the Championship and with the U.S. men’s national team as well.”
The son of Fulham’s American owner Shahid Khan described Robinson as a “great young addition to our squad for our return to the Premier League.”
Antonee Robinson to Fulham makes sense on so many levels and for the USMNT, left back has been a problem position for some time so head coach Gregg Berhalter will be delighted and hopeful that Robinson can nail down a regular spot in the Cottagers starting lineup.
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Robinson will battle with playoff final hero Joe Bryan for playing time out on the left and he will get plenty of minutes for the Cottagers this season, as his attack-minded style of play suits this Fulham side well as they switch between full backs and wing backs and like to get the ball wide early and often.
There’s no doubt Scott Parker has made them slightly more robust as they sealed promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt. But they still have a free-flowing style of play and you can already imagine Robinson whipping in crosses from the left for Aleksandar Mitrovic to head home. He would have been a good fit at Sheffield United too, but Fulham are also an attacking team and this works well.
This is a very good move for Robinson’s career and USMNT fans everywhere will be happy that alongside Tim Ream, Fulhamerica is once again becoming a thing.