The nightmare of Cyrus Christie at Fulham is set to finally be over when the Championship title winners announce their retained list, with it expected to be confirmed that the Republic of Ireland international will be released.
The 29-year-old joined the Cottagers in 2018 from Middlesbrough, but was never quite able to hold down a regular place in the starting line-up at the London club during his time there.
Whilst he did play 23 times in the Premier League in 2018-19 for Fulham, Christie was then frozen out by Scott Parker before the 2020-21 season began and in-turn he headed to Nottingham Forest for the entirety of that campaign.
It was a similar story in the summer of 2021 but unlike the year prior, Christie could not get fixed up with another club and he had to wait until January of 2022 to get game-time - which he found at Swansea City.
Inevitably, Christie will be let go this summer by Fulham, having not played a game for them since 2020, and whilst he may have a number of options going forward, he has spoken out on his time at Craven Cottage and how frustrating it has been on the whole over the past four years.
“It was frustrating knowing that you have to train on your own sometimes," Christie told The Athletic.
“There were days where they wanted me to come in, when no one was in the building and I wasn’t allowed to train with the first team.
"Thankfully (Fulham under-23s manager) Steve Wigley let me play in a couple of under-23s games to tick over.
"An opportunity didn’t pop up in the summer, so I had to be patient.
"I kept my sanity, which was very tough over the course of that six months.
“The manager has a job to do. That’s football, I understand that and I came in every day, I smiled, I carried on, if they needed me to train, I trained well. I was always ready to play.
"I didn’t want to come in and upset a team or a dressing room.
“Fulham never saw the best of me - I was never really given a chance to show what I’m capable of.
“When I did get an opportunity, I was then back on the bench for maybe four or five games. It’s tough when you get no momentum.
“I feel a lot of the lads that got the team promoted kind of got neglected a bit.
“But it was the same for everyone, chopping and changing all the time, there was no real stability.”
The Verdict
It's certainly not been a good few years for Christie as a Fulham player - but there are signs that things could be on the up for him.
Christie was solid if unspectacular for Nottingham Forest last season but in his half-season stint with Swansea City, the Ireland international really impressed with three goals and five assists in 22 appearances.
That will put him on the radar of top Championship clubs this summer as they know he's still got the ability to make a difference - especially in the final third.
He will depart a club that perhaps didn't give him the opportunities over the last couple of years and hopefully find himself somewhere that values him, as from the sound of his experiences it appears that Christie has had a tough time of things.