Willian exclusive: Fulham star backs Rodrigo Muniz to be future Golden Boot winner - 'He’s got the quality'

Fulham's Willian has told TNT Sports in an exclusive interview that team-mate Rodrigo Muniz can become "one of the best strikers" in the Premier League in the future.

Muniz joined Fulham from Flamengo in August 2021 but injuries hampered his impact on the first-team before he started to enjoy a fine run of form this season which has seen him score 10 goals in 31 appearances in all competitions.

The 23-year-old went through a goal drought at the start of the campaign but began to find his goalscoring touch after getting off the mark in Fulham's 2-2 draw at Burnley in February.

The striker went on to score seven goals in as many Premier League matches including a brace in a 3-0 win over Tottenham, and a stunning scissor-kick to rescue a draw at Sheffield United.

His performances saw him pick up the Premier League player of the month award for March, and there was a touching moment where he broke down in tears after being presented with the prize by fellow Brazilian team-mates Willian and Andreas Pereira.

Willian smiled when remembering that moment and said he is confident that Muniz can have a huge impact on the league in the near future.

"He’s always tried to work hard," Willian told TNT Sports. "Before he had a difficult time to adapt but when he started to play more, he started to score goals.

"We are really happy for him and I think he can improve even more.

"He’s only 23 and for me, he will be one of the best strikers in the Premier League for sure."

When asked if he can compete with the likes of Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah for the Premier League Golden Boot in the future, Willian replied: "I think so. He’s got the quality, he can score goals, he’s strong and I’m sure he can be one of the best in the league."

It has been another successful campaign for Fulham who have continued to establish themselves as a stable Premier League club.

Marco Silva's side finished 10th last season following promotion back to the top flight, and they currently sit 13th with two matches remaining as they comfortably avoided being caught up in this term's relegation battle.

Fulham also came close to reaching the Carabao Cup final but suffered defeat at the semi-final stage to eventual winners Liverpool.

Despite this, Willian believes that the club is getting closer to achieving great things.

"It has been a good season for me and also for the club," he added. "Of course, [there’s been] ups and downs but at the end, it was a good season.

"I think we are in a good direction. We can start in the future to fight for titles. We reached the semi-final against Liverpool and almost went to the final and I think in the future we can start to fight for something special at this club."

Fulham face the daunting task of playing Manchester City at Craven Cottage on Saturday, which will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Pep Guardiola's side will win an unprecedented fourth league title in a row if they win all their remaining matches, and they enjoyed an emphatic 5-1 win over Fulham in the reverse fixture earlier this season.

City have not lost a game in 90 minutes since suffering defeat to Aston Villa in December and Willian admits that playing against the reigning English champions is always a tough challenge.

"I think now they’re the best team in the league and in the world," he explains. "It always difficult to play against City, it’s always hard. You have to run a lot… running running and you never get the ball sometimes.

"They do it against any team in the world. They can control any team like they did against Real Madrid for example.

"To be honest, it’s not a game [where] you have fun where you go inside the pitch and you have the ball and sometimes you dribble.

"You have to know that you’ll be behind the ball and then when you have a chance to have the ball, you have to cause them problems."

The Brazilian has enjoyed some important moments against City after scoring against them in a win for Chelsea in Guardiola's debut campaign, while his penalty helped to confirm Liverpool as champions in the 19/20 season.

The midfielder understands what it takes to defeat a Guardiola team but warns that Fulham must produce a "perfect game" to get anything from the game.

"It’s a game where you need consistency," he said. "You cannot do mistakes and it has to be a perfect game to win against them.

"You cannot give them any space or any mistakes because if you do, they can kill us. It has to be a perfect game from us on Saturday to beat City."

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