This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Fulham are set to battle with Championship rivals AFC Bournemouth in an attempt to sign Swansea City captain Matt Grimes, per the Daily Mail.

The 25-year-old has helped lead the Swans to two successive play-off finishes in the Championship and this year they fell at the final hurdle against Brentford at Wembley.

Grimes' performances throughout the campaign though did not go unnoticed and a host of teams are weighing up whether or not to take advantage of the fact that he has less than one year remaining on his current contract at the Liberty Stadium.

Fulham have a number of midfielders in their squad but the futures of the likes of Harrison Reid and Andre Zambo-Anguissa remain uncertain as there's bound to be interest from Premier League clubs.

So would Grimes be a good fit for the Cottagers? The FLW team have had their say on the matter.

Alfie Burns

This could be a super piece of business for Fulham to conduct this summer.

Grimes has really grown under Steve Cooper at Swansea, with his performances levels rarely dropping over the course of the last two seasons.

The midfielder offers composure on the ball, setting the right tempo for a performance in the Championship, whilst mixing that with strong reading of the game to protect a defence.

Fulham are probably going to have to evolve their midfield options stepping back into the Championship and this deal would go a long way to doing that.

It would also be a little bit of a statement too. Swansea, after two years of challenging for promotion, will hope to be contenders and rivals to Fulham in 2021/22.

Picking up their captain would show Fulham mean business.

 

 

George Dagless

This could be a really tidy signing, yes.

I think Grimes is a really good footballer and more than has the quality to take on board Marco Silva's approach at Fulham and translate it into performances on the pitch.

He's very good on the ball, understands the game well in the middle of the park and is the sort of player Fulham could potentially need for that area of the pitch if certain other players end up leaving the club.

Of course, Fulham will want to keep as many members of their squad as they can and still add Grimes to it but if there are some exits, signing a player of Grimes' class should soften the blow considerably.

Sam Rourke

There is no denying this'd be a good signing for the Cottagers.

Grimes has proven to be a classy operator at second tier level and was a pivotal reason behind Swansea's recent push for promotion via the play-offs.

With there speculation over the futures of Cairney, Reed and Anguissa in that Fulham midfield, it seems to me that they will need to enhance the middle of the park and in Grimes you've got a player who should slot comfortably in the midfield.

He's proven his leadership qualities at the Swans with him being the side's captain whilst his quality on the ball and range of passing is what stands out with the former Leeds man.

Grimes is tenacious and energetic and isn't afraid to do the dirty work in midfield, so if you want an all-round midfielder, Grimes is a solid solution.