Alex Iwobi stepping up into Harry Wilson role as Fulham climb up table

When Harry Wilson left Fulham in the summer to join Leeds, fans worried about who would step up and take over as the club’s main creator.

All signs in pre-season pointed to Alex Iwobi.

He was impressive in pre-season, and his experience both for Fulham and generally in the Premier League pointed to him being the man to take over from Wilson.

But as the season started, Fulham were all over the place and it took until their seventh match to actually get a win on the board.

The man to score the winner that day?

Alex Iwobi.

In fact, ever since Alvaro Arbeloa made the necessary tweaks to Fulham’s team to take them from a side who couldn’t win to a team who look very hard to beat, Iwobi has been quietly improving game by game.

Now firmly embedded on the left-hand side of Fulham’s attack alongside Josh King and Oscar Bobb, Iwobi has become the very thing it was hoped he would be in pre-season.

That is, of course, the main creator in this Fulham side.

No Fulham player has registered more big chances created than Iwobi’s six, and the Nigerian also tops the pile for both key passes per match and expected assists.

Somehow, he has failed to actually register an assist yet, although it was his corner that Zion Suzuki failed to control for Fulham’s equaliser against Aston Villa last Saturday.

I have frequently documented that Fulham have been hugely underperforming their expected goals, and if that changes in the coming weeks, then Iwobi’s numbers will start to reflect his importance in the team.

Last season, Harry Wilson bagged 10 goals and six assists for Fulham in the Premier League.

Iwobi is unlikely to match that number of goals, but assist-wise, based on the form we have seen so far, he could easily end with double figures.

The Cottagers needed a new talisman in attack.

Iwobi appears to have adjusted to his role as the experienced member of an otherwise youthful front four well.

Now he needs Gonzalo Garcia to get settled properly into Premier League life, having missed so many key chances.

If he can start to find the back of the net and confidence builds, then Fulham will bounce up the table, just as Iwobi’s numbers will improve too.

Then and only then will we really see the full benefit of just how good Iwobi has been and how important he has become to Fulham’s attack.