Fulham in control of Tom Cairney’s future amid links to Leicester City
One of the favourite chants of Fulham fans is their version of funk song Ain’t Nobody in reference to Tom Cairney, but the long-serving midfielder is being linked with a move away from west London.
Quite how much is in the reports of Leicester City being interested in the 32-year-old will become clearer in the forseeable future, writes Richard Cawley.
Fulham are in a position of strength with them holding an option to extend Cairney’s deal until the summer of 2025.
And maybe that is the reason that talk of interest from elsewhere has cropped up, to try and spark the west Londoners into triggering those extra 12 months.
Cairney is suited to the less fixture-heavy schedule in the Premier League and made 33 appearances in the 2022-23 season. While only six of those were starts, he played a really valuable role coming on and helping Marco Silva’s side control the closing stages or boosting their territorial dominance when they were chasing a deficit.
The former Blackburn man has made 283 appearances for Fulham since signing from Blackburn in July 2015 and only knee injuries prevented him getting moves away when the club were yo-yoing between the Premier League and Championship.
The ideal scenario is that Cairney, who scored the only goal when the Whites beat Aston Villa in the 2018 play-off final at Wembley, finishes his playing days by the banks of the Thames.
Fulham have announced a record sponsorship deal with gambling firm SBOTOP. Betting companies will be banned by the Premier League from the end of the 2025-26 season.
The official launch of the club’s new kit is tomorrow.