WILSON ’ S KOP OUT
Wales star admits leaving Liverpool for perfect Fulham move got career back on track
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HARRY WILSON believes his decision to leave Liverpool has allowed him to finally fill Gareth Bale’s gold-stitched boots.
Wilson will be the man Wales look to for inspiration on Tuesday night when they face Robert Lewandowski’s Poland for a place at the Euro 2024 finals.
‘Haz’ is the new ‘Gaz’, according to Wales manager Rob Page, but the Fulham star reckons it would never have happened had he not chosen to kill his boyhood dream by leaving Anfield.
“That move to Fulham was twoand-half years ago now, but it was a big one for me,” said Wilson, 27, who moved to Craven Cottage for £12million.
“I had been on a lot of loans from Liverpool and although my dream as a young lad was to make it into the Liverpool first team and play regularly, I knew that it wasn’t really going to be the case.
Arguably
“When I was 18, 19, 20, I was trying to get into the team, but they arguably had the best front three in the world.
“So, the loans I went on really helped me grow as a player and learn the game.”
Wilson’s pragmatic decision that he was not going to shift Mo Sala, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino as Jurgen Klopp’s holy trinity proved to be a wise one.
He immediately helped Fulham win promotion to the Premier League in 2022 and he added: “I feel like it’s really been the perfect move for me and my game has gone up another level.”
With Bale retired, it was Wilson who scored both Wales goals in their crucial 2-1 victory over Croatia in qualifying. But Wilson insisted: “I don’t think anyone was going to replace Gaz, because he was leaving such a hole in that team.”
Poland will have their own talisman at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday in the familiar shape of goal machine Lewandowski (left), who boasts 82 international goals in 146 matches.