Fulham manager Scott Parker has suggested that he sees no reason why forward Aleksandar Mitrovic would not remain part of the squad for next season in the Championship.

Mitrovic endured a frustrating campaign in the Premier League this term and he only managed to score three goals and provide three assists, compared with the 11 goals he fired in during the 2018/19 season in the top-flight. The forward was not a guaranteed starter for a lot of the campaign with Parker handing him just 13 starts in total in the league.

It has already been reported that Roma are potentially interested in making a summer swoop for the forward, with new manager Jose Mourinho thought to be a fan of the Serbia international. That suggests that Fulham could face a difficult decision over the summer on what to do with the 26-year-old, who does have the potential to fire them to promotion if he stays.

Speaking to the media, ahead of Fulham’s final game in the Premier League, Parker suggested that he believes that Mitrovic will be remaining at Craven Cottage even though he is being linked with a move away from the club this summer.

He said: “I see no reason why (Mitrovic would not be here next season).

“He’s under contract. I’m not sure how long he has got but he’s got a considerable amount of time on his contract. I don’t see why that won’t be the case.”

The verdict

Keeping hold of Mitrovic would be a wise move really, as long as he remains fully committed to the club and Parker still has faith in his qualities. He is a player that is a class above the Championship and someone who defenders in the English second tier would be dreading the prospect of facing week in week out once again you would imagine.

The 26-year-old fired in 26 league goals in his 40 appearances in the 2019/20 campaign in the Championship and was a vital part of the reason why Fulham were able to make it into the top-six and clinch promotion. You would expect him to be firing in a lot of goals once again if he remains with the club and is given the chance to start for them.

Losing him would be a blow and he would take a lot of replacing. However, you can see why there would be interest from the likes of Roma because he is a player with the potential to perform in one of Europe’s top leagues for sure. There will always be some question marks over why he was not played more by Parker this term considering the quality he could have brought to their attack.