Marco Silva leaves Fulham set for their biggest summer ever: can Fulham avoid disaster?

Marco Silva is set to leave Fulham in favour of Portuguese giants Benfica. With the club’s figurehead and numerous stars set to depart, Fulham are set for what could be the biggest summer in their history. Can Fulham reinvent themselves?

It’s a shame it ended this way, but thank you, Marco

It’s a shame it’s ended this way, but if you told us five years ago that Marco Silva would romp to a Championship title, beat the filth, nearly reach Wembley numerous times, and solidify a floundering Fulham in the top flight, there is no doubt we’d consider Marco Silva a Fulham legend.

Should Silva have treated Fulham with the contempt he has? Of course not. But Fulham aren’t blameless in this situation. The board should have forced Marco into an answer weeks ago, but then again, Tony Khan’s Fulham have a history of leaving decisions too late — that’s likely a large part of why we are in the scenario we are now.

Fulham’s behind the eight-ball in our biggest summer ever with managers and stars leaving: a recipe for disaster?

Fulham have to move quickly. To replace Silva, the most important man at the football club, Wilson and Raul, two men who were involved in 56% of our goals last season, in one summer is a massive task.

Considering our recent transfer record, and the fact we are stuck behind our Premier League peers again because we cannot attract any new additions until we hire a new manager, do you trust Tony Khan to dig Fulham out of this hole?

With Khan’s current managerial hire hit rate of 25%, and the massive role Silva played in all sides of our football operations, I’m not sure I do. The storm of a great manager, numerous key players, and a questionable recruitment team rarely spells success.

Silva’s departure must force Fulham into a more sustainable, data-driven approach

Silva’s departure has to be seen as a landmark moment in how Fulham operate in the market.

Let go of the Silva model of reinvigorating disenfranchised players from across the Premier League and Europe, and look at Premier League rivals like Brentford, Brighton, and Bournemouth, adopting a focus on a more sustainable, partially data-driven approach.

Who should be the next Fulham manager?

Fulham seem keen on Kieran McKenna, yet seem unwilling to pay the 40-year-old’s sizeable £8m release clause.

A young appointment like McKenna suggests a step towards a sustainable approach, and whilst McKenna’s work to achieve a double promotion with Ipswich should not be outweighed by relegating an Ipswich side that had many players from the third tier in its ranks, for that sort of money Fulham can do better.

Vincenzo Italiano, a man who reached the Europa League quarter-finals and won the Coppa Italia with Bologna, and Thiago Motta, who developed numerous young assets in the Bologna squad alongside finishing in the Champions League places at Bologna, would be my top two candidates for the job.