Winger Oscar Bobb (£5.1m) last week joined Fulham on a five-and-a-half-year deal. He cost the Cottagers around £27m.
The 22-year-old is a casualty of Manchester City’s recent signings of both Rayan Cherki (£6.6m) and Antoine Semenyo (£7.8m), so this move gives him the chance to kickstart his career.
So, can Bobb settle quickly, and will he affect the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) prospects of Harry Wilson (£6.1m)?
We’ll attempt to answer those questions below.
HISTORY
After joining from Valerenga aged 16, Bobb came through Man City’s academy to make his Premier League debut in September 2023.
| Starts (subs) | Goals | Assists | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 (so far) | Manchester City | Premier League | 5 (4) | 0 | 1 |
| 2024/25 | Manchester City | Premier League | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 |
| 2023/24 | Manchester City | Premier League | 2 (12) | 1 | 2 |
His first top-flight goal completed a late comeback victory at Newcastle United, soon voted Goal of the Month.
2024/25 was therefore expected to be Bobb’s breakout year, having performed strongly in the pre-season tour of America, then the Community Shield.
However, he broke a bone in his leg just days before Gameweek 1 and subsequently missed most of the season.
“I was pressing and then my foot got stuck, slipped with the other one, sort of fell back on my leg.” – Oscar Bobb on his fractured leg
Not to be deterred, Bobb was back for last summer’s Club World Cup and scored past Al Ain, beginning all three opening matches of this current Premier League campaign.
An assist took place at Wolverhampton Wanderers, but his game time soon began to deteriorate, not helped by either his festive hamstring problem or January’s Semenyo arrival. So all parties felt it was time for a fresh start elsewhere.
GOAL + ASSIST THREAT
There’s not much game time to base conclusions on but Bobb is an adept dribbler, accomplished in tight spaces, and perhaps more at home in the half-spaces than hugging the touchline, cutting in from the right flank with his left foot.
All four of this season’s shots were close-range, but off target. Statsbomb says his sole right-footed attempt was the one with the biggest expected goals (xG, 0.54) number, meeting a cross to put the ball wide.
Meanwhile, Bobb has created 10 chances throughout 487 minutes:
But there is a feeling that he lost a small bit of pace after last spring’s hamstring injury. Suffering this latest one convinced Pep Guardiola to sell.
WHERE BOBB FITS IN AT FULHAM
Above: Oscar Bobb’s positions in the last three seasons at Manchester City
Due to Wilson’s form, Samuel Chukwueze (£5.3m) has often been seen on Fulham’s left flank, battling club-record signing Kevin (£5.8m) for a starting spot.
So is Bobb the straightforward Adama Traore (£5.1m) replacement, providing two bodies on the right and two on the left? It might be more fluid than that.
“It’s going to be great for us to have another – from an individual point of view – good player around those forward positions. Can play right, like Adama [Traore], can play inside, behind the striker as well. He’s a player that can play in tight spaces. Between the lines, he’s very good.
“Now it’s a matter of us to work with him, to put him in the best physical condition he can be, because I’m sure that he’s going to be a very good signing for the football club.” – Marco Silva on Oscar Bobb
“He can play in five positions, striker, right wing, left, in the pockets… [he is] so dynamic and the work ethic is unbelievable.” – Pep Guardiola on Oscar Bobb
You’d expect Wilson to remain in the Cottagers’ XI for a while yet. Six goals and five assists ensure he’s FPL’s top-scoring individual from Gameweek 13 onwards.
Even so, this current member of the Fantasy template could be about to let his contract expire and leave for nothing in the summer.
In which case, Bobb is the ready-made replacement who could perhaps be eased into their line-up during the final Gameweeks, especially if there’s little at stake.
HOW FIT IS HE?
Bobb last appeared on the pitch in mid-December, being taken off very early in the EFL Cup tie against Brentford.
But despite the red flag, we might be seeing Bobb very soon:
2. Silva on Bobb: "He's going to have another session tomorrow, we are going to assess & take a decision but, if you ask me right now, it's probably going to be too soon. Next week he's going to be completely involved and in contention to the game." #FFC
— Jack Kelly (@jackellyffc) January 30, 2026
FINAL THOUGHTS
Fulham are aiming for European qualification, thanks to five wins and 17 points from the latest nine outings. Both defeats came in stoppage time. There’ll be no let-up in their quest to finish as high as possible.
Helping this push is a nice-looking schedule, which our Fixture Ticker ranks as third-best between now and Blank Gameweek 31. That’s handy for the many intending to activate a Wildcard right before Gameweek 32.
The Bobb move screams ‘succession planning’, rather than immediate competition for Wilson.
Bear in mind that the Norwegian has spent a big chunk of the season on the sidelines, more recently with a hamstring injury, and would have to gain match fitness, rhythm and tactical understanding before even mounting anything close to a challenge to Wilson. Kevin and Chukwueze were similarly made to wait a long time (Gameweeks 10 and 13, respectively) for their first league starts.
Fulham seem to have simply spotted a relative bargain and bought Bobb for the (possibly Wilson-less) future. Not till 2026/27 is he likely to emerge onto the FPL radar. And probably not till the run-in, when the Cottagers’ fixtures take a turn for the worse and interest in their players will wane anyway, will he be seriously troubling the starting XI.
