Glenn Hoddle said that Fulham need to be ambitious this summer if they want to keep Marco Silva. The Portuguese’s contract runs out in the summer and there is significant speculation surrounding whether or not he will sign a new one.
Glenn Hoddle has said that Fulham must be ambitious this summer if they want to keep Marco Silva at the club.
The Cottagers are on track for their second successive highest-ever points tally in the Premier League, having done so last season and with four games to go this term.
Silva’s four-year contract at Craven Cottage comes to an end at the end of June and there is much speculation as to whether or not he will sign the new deal that was offered to him in October.
Silva got Fulham promoted in his opening season with the second-highest total ever recorded of 106 points, and quickly the Cottagers settled into the Premier League.
They have now finished 10th, 13th and 11th in the Premier League and this year are looking to beat their previous record tally from last season of 54 points.
The club are also looking to finish in the top half of the table in the top flight for the first time since the 2011/12 season, which coincidentally is when they were last in Europe.
Now Hoddle insists Fulham must be ambitious to keep hold of Silva, with European football the clear goal for the Cottagers.
He said: “That was what was needed, consolidation in the Premier League, they have done that, they have ticked that box, they are not fighting in the relegation zone by any means.
“So now comes the next level and some clubs have got that wrong over the years, look at where Stoke City are right now.
“They tried to take it to another level, so it is a bit of a chicken and the egg really.
“Are you happy to stay in the Premier League, or is it in your nature as managers and players, you want to strive, you compete, you want to go to the next level.
“You want to get better and improve the squad, sometimes that can go against you.
“But you’ve got to be ambitious, the club have got to get some new ambitions.
“I think that is what the manager will want to sit down with the club, look at the squad he can improve, look at the players he can actually bring in and say, actually I am prepared to commit to a contract, because we have got a goal, we have got a bit of vision ahead of us, which is going to improve again.
“He will say, I am not happy just getting into the Premier League and surviving, he wants to move onto another club to do that or he wants to do it at Fulham.
“I think there are a lot of things that have to be sorted out and spoken about.”