Robinson is arguably the best fullback in the Premier League, yet will likely miss out on a big move due to his age profile
Two years ago, Pep Guardiola wanted to sign Tim Ream. Or at least, that's what we were told. Man City had just beaten Fulham, 2-1, and Guardiola was doing his whole post-game flattery thing, the standard ritual of convincingly winning and then talking about just good the other team is. It's a mastery in fake flattery.
Ream was his target. Guardiola approached him in the tunnel after the game, and told the USMNT center back that "if you were 24 instead of 34, you'd be playing for me." There are, of course, two things wrong with that statement. The first is that Ream was 35 at the time. The second is that Guardiola already had both Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias at center back. Ream, with all due respect, was not getting into that team.
But he did inadvertently make quite a good point. Ream was a very good central defender – he still is. But at his age, even with a generous helping from the fountain of youth, no top tier Premier League club would sniff him.
The same can now be said of the significantly younger but perhaps equally stuck Antonee Robinson. Everything about the U.S. international left back – his style of play, his quality on the ball, his defensive numbers – suggests that he should be playing Champions League football.
But he is also (almost) 28-years-old. It leaves him somewhat trapped at Fulham, with a lateral move the only one possible. Robinson is, in all honesty, too good for the Cottagers. But the harsh reality is no one better than them will take him.
Getty Images SportThe perfect modern left back
None of this is any fault of Robinson's, of course. "Jedi" has enjoyed a very good football career that should yet get better. He was raised a Liverpool fan in the Everton academy, bounced around on loan for a few years before being sold to Wigan for $2.5 million at 21.
It was sound business for the Latics, who no doubt got a cut-price fee for the left back after he spent the latter half of the 2018-19 season on loan at the Northern England club.
From there, things took off. Milan showed interest in January 2020. Everything seemed set, until he failed his medical due to an irregular heartbeat picked up on the medical. The move collapsed, and Robinson was sent back to Wigan. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be a bizarre kind of blessing.
He was unable to find space at a hospital for an investigative medical procedure. With no football to play, he simply stopped drinking caffeine shots before games. The issue went away.
Fulham welcomed him with open arms, and he has since become one of the better fullbacks in the Premier League – if not the world. He his helped by the fact that fullbacks are cool again. For a few years, everyone was trying to copy Guardiola, who played centerbacks out wide and asked them to tuck in.
The traditional, hard-running, defensively astute outside back was gone. But it's a position coming back into fashion. Robinson has gone from throwback to en vogue within the short space of 12 months.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportAge and the transfer market
And this is where the big money move should come. The market, right now, is crying out for athletic, quick and multi-talented fullbacks. Left-backs, in particular, come at a premium.
Robinson's game checks every single box. Want someone who can go forward? How about the fact that he tallied 10 assists last season – without taking a single set piece? Want a good defensive fullback, who can shut down the best wingers in the world? Robinson's tackle, interception, clearance and aerial duels numbers are all among the most impressive in Europe.
Need a proper leader in your dressing room to shepherd a back line? Robinson has been entrusted with the captain's armband for Fulham on a handful of occasions. This guy is made to play Champions League football. He should be a $50 million player – if not more.
The issue is, Robinson is slightly too old. Increasingly, Premier League teams – especially at the highest of levels – want to sign young talent and develop them. Arsenal, who have been more than willing to splash the cash of late, seldom bring in players over the age of 25.
Man City, serial winners and biggest spenders of them all, have gone big on a player over 25 just once in the last four years – and that was the remarkably durable Tijjani Reijnders. Liverpool, too, have opened their checkbook this summer, but the oldest of their five incoming players is 24. Alexander Isak, should they complete that move, turns 26 in September.
The key issue here is one of resale value. The best teams want two world class-players at every position. But if they manage their squads right, both should be able to be moved on towards the end of their deal for a decent profit. Robinson, soon to turn 28, is in his prime now, but will ultimately be viewed as a depreciating asset.
If Robinson today is worth $50M, Robinson next summer will only cost $40M. There is, in effect, zero incentive for a team to spend big unless they have a glaring need.
GettyAn ideal fit at Liverpool
Liverpool did. At the start of the year, it seemed almost inevitable that Robinson would be playing for Arne Slot's Reds in the 2025-26 season. The pieces were clear for all to see. Andy Robertson, Liverpool's first choice left back since early 2018, is past his best and increasingly injury prone.
There was no apparent deputy in place. Robinson is a similar style of player, Liverpool had held long-standing interest, and Robinson spent a good amount of his youth career in the area. The tactical fit was too perfect. Slot set up his team last season with advanced fullbacks, and asked Robertson to bomb forward, making the kind of overlapping and underlapping runs that Robinson executes so well.
Robertson was once elite. Robinson was next up. The player, for his part, seemed to hint that a move was possible.
"I'm very happy here. The fact that there's interest from other teams is great. Obviously, it all comes down to whether someone wants me enough to pay what Fulham would ask. So, if the club sees it as a good idea, I'd leave," he said in January.
But then things went another way. Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez was not expected to be available in the summer of 2025. The Cherries valued him too highly, and he perhaps needed another year of development before he was ready for a clear step up. And at 21, he lacked Robinson's experience.
Kerkez was – and is – an asset to be developed. But Bournemouth were willing to sell, and Liverpool bit. Robertson is a decade older than Kerkez, but Liverpool saw a clearer succession plan. They spent $50M on Kerkez, spoiling the narrative before it could really begin.
Getty Images SportNo good options elsewhere
And there might have been other options, but everyone else has made their moves. Man City signed Wolves' Rayan Ait-Nouri for a similar fee, and view him as their starting left back – a position they have needed help in for years. Arsenal have a future star in Miles Lewis-Skelly, who would surely block anyone else's path into the first team.
No one else in the Premier League is quite worth it – or would be so inclined to spend. Newcastle are playing Champions League football next year, but have PSR issues and more pertinent problems in trying to hold onto Isak. Spurs are notoriously frugal and rate Destiny Udogie highly. Chelsea don't sign anyone older than 17.
A look onto the continent tells much of the same story. It is known that Robinson was keen on a move to Milan, and they had a clear need at the position after selling Theo Hernandez to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal – but they looked elsewhere and brought in Brighton's Pervis Estupinan.
Inter could do with a refresh, and have shown few qualms historically in purchasing players who are beyond the age profile that most clubs of their stature look for. Still, they need to rebuild their midfield and plug holes at center back.
Napoli, PSG, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen can all be ruled out for any number of reasons – either due to a lack of need or a certain reluctance to invest in Robinson given his age. There is, in effect, nowhere for him to go.