Does Tom Cairney’s new contract mean Fulham are promotion favourites this season?

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Fulham confirmed on Monday that midfielder Tom Cairney has agreed to a one-year contract extension with the club. The Scottish international now has a deal that will keep him at Craven Cottage until 2021 and there is an option to extend it by a further 12 months.

Although he has been attracting interest from Newcastle United, the 26-year-old has decided to commit himself to the Cottagers and attempt to win promotion to the Premier League this season. After the disappointing play-off experience in May, the club will be desperate to go one better this year and their captain is central to those hopes.

How important was keeping Cairney this summer?

It was crucial that the club kept hold of their star midfielder this summer, as it would have been near impossible to find a like-for-like replacement that possesses his ability on the ball. Last season, the former Blackburn Rovers player contributed 13 goals and 10 assists from the centre of the park.

Although he mainly played as a number ten, he was also used in a deeper position and on the right wing. Wherever he was on the pitch, Cairney made Fulham tick with his intricate passing and quick thinking on the ball.

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His pass success rate of 92.5% underlines how reliable he is in possession. Although this is great news, Fulham will have to learn from last season as they were too reliant on Cairney at times.

Across the play-off semi-final against Reading, the midfielder was pressed quickly and given no time to think on the ball. This led to the team struggling to create chances as their best player was shut down superbly. It was a great move from Jaap Stam and the rest of the Championship will have learnt from that.

It can be argued that the Cottagers were the best team to watch last season and a big reason for that was Cairney, but they did finish 6^th. When the season kicks off in August, they need to learn from that and provide the club captain with support if they want to get the best from him.

Will Fulham be promotion favourites next season?

At the beginning of July, it is difficult to make too many predictions regarding the new season, but this announcement from Fulham puts them among the favourites to win promotion to the Premier League.

Tom Cairney was seen as one of the best players in the division last season and it would have been expected that he would have moved on this summer to test himself in the top flight. He is now 26 and time is running out for him to have a sustained run in the English top flight.

However, he is clearly a fan of the project at Craven Cottage under Slavisa Jokanovic and he will have received assurances about the future direction of the club.

After coming so close last season, Fulham will know that they have a great chance this season if they kept their best players. This new contract keeps Cairney for at least one more year and maintains the positivity around the club. They will be a force to be reckoned with a promotion is well within their grasp.

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