He's Here - on a 4 year deal please log in to view this image Link to Club story : http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/august/02/totally-mawson
Happy with this signing, can’t find anything on his knee injury though, wonder if he will be ready to go straight in??
Can't really say I'm overwhelmed with this signing. what I've seen of him is nothing special, was playing for Barnsley in League 1 had an OK time at Swansea. The positives he does seem to score goals from the CB position, think we could have done a lot better for the money paid, not a great deal of Premier experience. Hoping his surgery has worked and makes a full recovery.
An alternative view is that his 'OK time at Swansea' was enough to get him into the England squad, so a lot more than OK. His age (24) means he's seasoned and experienced but still developing and yet to reach his peak (which also means his potential resale value could be much higher if he keeps making progress). I take your point about needing to see how he recovers from his injury and surgery, but to me this is a signing which ticks all the boxes and at a price that compares favourably with others being bandied around this summer. Given the choice of Mawson and Ream (or Mawson and Le Marchand) or Odoi/Kalas and Ream/Le Marchand, I think this is a definite improvement.
The view from Swansea appears to be he was easily one of there best players and was one of a few shining lights ( along with Fabianski) in a bad season last year! Many state there defence was easily mid table last year and it was there lack of goals which caused the issues! He is young played for England u21’s until recently and was called up to the full squad for the friendlies leading to the World Cup, who knows had he not ruled himself out due to knee surgery Man U maybe chasing him for £65 mill following a great World Cup instead of Maguire. I think he will be an immediate upgrade on Odoi and has a chance to be a massive upgrade!
If Mawson was to play Defensive Midfield I'd be more happy. Personally I want a solid pair of Centre-backs who defend as a partnership and allow our backs to get forward. For me Mawson is a loose cannon, he charges forward thinking he's a Defensive Midfield trying to dribble past players leaving gaps if he gets caught in possession. We have Kevin McDonald as DM who can do that. Obviously I hope I'm wrong and he is more disciplined and proves a good buy.
Quietly confident Alfie will be fine. Clear concern about his knee, until proven not an issue that is. We've not got a great record lately in 'managing' that sort of thing- Soares and Cairney last season!! And also that he and Ream have (apparently) similar styles; the ideal CB pairing being complimentary styles. Still have that inkling that the Gaffer may go three at the back. Interesting that Mawson has taken shirt No. 26 (Tomas Kalas's old number). Maybe he's sending a message that he'll be twice the player that Ream is !?
