Harry Wilson holds football’s most powerful contractual bargaining chip, but where might he cash it in?
The Fulham attacking midfielder is enjoying the most productive spell of his career just as his deal reaches its final few months, giving him maximum leverage as he weighs his next move.
His brilliant assist for Fulham’s third goal in their 3-1 win away at Sunderland on Sunday provided yet another reminder of why the Welsh international is in such high demand.
After Sander Berge headed clear a Sunderland free-kick, Wilson gathered the loose ball on the edge of his own area, drove from box to box and then slid a perfectly weighted pass between the centre-backs for Alex Iwobi to chip home.
It was his fifth assist of the season and, alongside his eight goals, marks the highest goal-involvement total of his five Premier League campaigns.
“It’s up to the club to do the maximum to keep him,” Fulham’s head coach Marco Silva told reporters after Fulham’s 2-1 win against Brighton & Hove Albion last month.
Wilson had previously struggled for consistency, never playing more than 50 per cent of a Premier League season’s available minutes (highlighted in the graphic below). There is logic, then, in staying put and continuing in the system that has allowed him to finally produce his best football.
But the surroundings at Craven Cottage might not be so familiar next season — Silva’s contract is also due to expire in the summer and he has been non-committal on whether he plans to extend beyond his current five-year reign.
With uncertainty in the dugout, it makes sense for Wilson to consider his options. But where could they take him?
Aston Villa’s tactics under manager Unai Emery appear custom-made for Wilson, who could slot naturally into one of their three attacking midfield roles.
He has operated predominantly from the right for Fulham, with a higher share of his touches coming in wide areas this season, but he profiles mainly as an inventive creator rather than a pacy, down-the-touchline winger.
Emery prefers his attacking midfielders to stay narrow and rotate frequently, which should mesh with Wilson’s roaming style.
In this narrow attack, space is limited, placing a premium on players who can detect and exploit pockets between the lines. According to data provider SkillCorner, Wilson has presented himself as a passing option between the lines 813 times this season, more than any other Fulham player, in a metric topped by Villa’s Morgan Rogers (1,233).
Rogers is the clear creative fulcrum of Emery’s attacking midfield, but the other two roles — typically occupied by John McGinn and Emiliano Buendia — look more attainable.
Harry Wilson’s ball-carrying has been a theme of Fulham’s season (Ben Stansall/AFP)
Wilson also complements Villa’s penchant for — quite literally — outside-the-box thinking. Emery’s side have scored a league-leading 13 goals from distance this season, and Wilson’s three are the joint second-most in the division, behind Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth and Manchester City).
The most memorable came in a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in November, when he struck from the right wing after goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario had strayed far from his line and miscued a clearance near the touchline. Even though he was presented with an empty net, Wilson received the ball with his back to goal from team-mate Josh King on the touchline, and the finish required outstanding vision and flawless technique.
Everton, who themselves defeated Fulham 2-1 earlier this month courtesy of a late Bernd Leno own goal, are another club who would benefit from the 28-year-old’s inventiveness and technical quality. And David Moyes’ side are likely to have a creative hole to fill this summer.
Jack Grealish has created 2.1 chances per 90 minutes during his loan spell from Manchester City, making him Everton’s most prolific creator. He will miss the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his foot, sustained against Aston Villa last month, before returning to his parent club in the summer.
If Wilson arrived this summer, he could help pick up the slack, though he offers a different skill set from Grealish.
Grealish likes to take on his man out wide, attempting 4.6 take-ons per 90 minutes this season, the sixth-highest rate among attacking midfielders in the Premier League. Wilson, by contrast, ranks second-bottom in that group. His game is more about movement and quick interchanges. He takes 5.8 shots per 100 touches, the highest figure among the same selection of players, reflecting his eagerness to take quick, decisive action on the ball.
Though Wilson would not replicate what Grealish brought to Everton’s attack, his qualities would give Moyes reason to reshape the side around him.
Everton are having a very similar season to Fulham, though, and might not represent enough of a step up for Wilson, while opportunities for consistent minutes might be limited higher up the table. Instead, if he wants to spend his prime years at a Champions League club, he may be better served swapping London life for the la dolce vita of Serie A.
The Italian top flight typically records fewer take-ons than other top European leagues and is less defined by the Premier League’s blood-and-thunder physicality, placing greater value on technical precision — traits that mesh well with Wilson’s profile. The blueprint has already been sketched by Scott McTominay: the former Manchester United midfielder demonstrated the league’s appetite for marauding Premier League imports with a nose for goal, winning Serie A’s Player of the Season award in 2024-25 after driving Napoli to the title.
Wilson shares McTominay’s appetite for crashing the box late from midfield. The chart below compares his off-ball run types with those of his positional peers across Europe’s top seven leagues, where he ranks in the 90th percentile for runs that attack crosses.
Whatever he decides, Wilson is unlikely to have a shortage of suitors at home or abroad.
