Football League World
·21 September 2021
Football League World
·21 September 2021
Rodrigo Muniz opened his account for Fulham in their 2-1 defeat to Reading on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Brazilian is biding his time providing a backup option to Aleksandar Mitrovic at Craven Cottage, but Muniz’s manager Marco Silva remains bullish that the former Flamengo man has what it takes to make it in England.
The Portuguese manager made this clear, speaking with The Athletic.
He said: “He’s a young player who needs time to adapt. It’s a new country, culture, language and competition. But he’s 20 years old and scored important goals for a big club in a tough, tough competition in Brazil.
“He’s a player that I have no doubts will be important for our squad in the present and the future.”
With Mitrovic’s pedigree at Championship level it will be difficult, barring an injury, for Muniz to find regular first team action.
However, Silva is evidently happy with him as a backup option and will want to give him the exposure so he can develop into a valuable player next season if the Cottagers achieve promotion to the Premier League.
It is a nice environment in attempting to prove himself in England for Muniz, you can guarantee chances will be provided in every match with the quality creative contingent Fulham have for second tier level.
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The Verdict
It will be very tough to dislodge Mitrovic this season, hopefully for Muniz’s sake the Cottagers play two up front at some point or the 20-year-old can break into the side in another role.
It will be interesting to see Muniz’s involvement in Tuesday evening’s cup tie against Leeds United, Silva may well give the striker the chance to kick on from his first goal and Premier League opposition provides a unique opportunity to judge his credentials.
The Muniz versus Mitrovic battle may be an ongoing one this season, so far so good for Fulham in their quest for automatic promotion.