Harry Wilson hopes Neco Williams can re-join Fulham from Liverpool.
Wilson left the Reds to join the Londoners permanently having initially joined the Cottagers on loan last summer, and he was joined at Craven Cottage by Wales team-mate Williams in January who made the loan switch from Anfield.
Both players excellent under Marco Silva as Fulham won the Championship title to gain promotion into the Premier League, but with Williams' hopes of gaining regular first-team action under Jurgen Klopp appear bleak given the options the German has at his disposal.
Read more: The 95 minutes and 56 seconds of evidence that proves Joe Allen is perfect for Swansea City
He is widely expected to depart Merseyside this summer, and Wilson believes his own decision to leave Anfield serves as an example for Williams to follow. "It was crazy, obviously Neco had the option halfway through the year to get some game time with Fulham and I spoke to him beforehand," said Wilson.
"I thought the way we played, the style of football at Fulham, it suited him and he came in in January and it was like he had been there for the full year, he’d done really well, managed to get a couple of assists, few goals as well, lots of minutes under his belt and I think we can see from his performance the other day that did him a world of good and who knows maybe he can come back next year.
"I think Neco was at a similar age that I was when I had my first loan to Hull, and I feel like when you’re at that age, 20 to 21, when you need to get first-team football and he was in a decent position at Liverpool to learn from the best right-back in the world [Trent Alexander-Arnold] but it came a point where he had to go get minutes for himself and it’s benefited him massively and everyone can see that when he puts on a Wales shirt."
Wilson has gone from strength to strength since making the bold decision to end his Liverpool career. The 25-year-old registered a league high of 19 Championship assists last season and scored 10 goals as Fulham secured an immediate return to the top-flight.
It comes after he had loan spells with Crewe Alexandra, Hull City, Derby County, Bournemouth and Cardiff City before making the decision to leave Liverpool on a permanent basis. And having been a regular for Fulham throughout the 2021/22 season, Wilson believes he came into the international break in the best shape possible.
"I’ve played 50-odd games this year, I feel like I'm in a really good place physically," explained Wilson. "I had a couple of weeks off before this camp so I think I was fairly fresh."
Will Wales progress from their World Cup group? Have your say in our comments section here.
Wilson made a late cameo as Wales defeated Ukraine 1-0 to clinch their place at this year's World Cup in Qatar before playing from the outset in the agonising 2-1 Nations League defeat to Netherlands three days later. The triumph over Ukraine rounded off what was a stunning campaign for Wilson who joins Wales team-mates Williams, Brennan Johnson, David Brooks, Chris Mepham and Kieffer Moore in gaining promotion from the Championship in addition to qualifying for the World Cup.
When asked if it has been his best ever season as a professional, Wilson responded: "Definitely. Going into the season I had the two objectives. The first one was with Fulham and that was to get promotion and get to the Premier League and the second one was to qualify for a World Cup with Wales, and I managed to do both, and now it’s about focusing on next year and the World Cup at the end of the year."
Rob Page's men take on the United States of America, Iran and England in the group stages of the World Cup in November. And Wilson believes Wales have every chance of gaining a positive result against neighbours England given the quality and depth they have in their squad at present.
Get your Wales World Cup 48-page souvenir special on Saturday June 11. Order your copy via the online shop here
"I think we are in a great place with the squad, we have a good mixture of youth and experience," concluded Wilson. “Some of the boys have been there and done it at Euro 2016 and some of us younger boys were able to experience it last year with the Euros.
“We would be lying if we said we hadn’t looked at the fixtures. We all have friends in the England team. I have a couple in the USA team as well from Fulham.
“We will be having a bit of banter about them but once those games come around we will be against each other for 90 minutes. I will be doing all I can for Wales and they will be doing all they can for their country.
“Wales against England is a massive game no matter where it is. But with it being at the World Cup, the biggest stage, it is going to be that extra bit more. We will be going in there full of confidence and there is no reason why we can’t get a result against England.”
Wales return to action in the Nations League against Belgium on Saturday night. Kick-off in Cardiff is at 7:45pm.
