Collins John is delighted to have secured a dream move to the Premier League – and says he has settled in superbly at Fulham.
The Dutch teenager gave his first full interview to Fulham’s official website after joining the Londoners from FC Twente in a surprise January transfer. He said that the move came about after Fulham’s scouts watched two of his Eredivisie matches in the new year.
“It all happened very quickly. About three weeks ago my team in Holland, FC Twente, played against Willem II. I had a good game even though I was playing out of position at right midfield. We won 3-2 and I scored the first goal, and afterwards my manager said to me that Fulham had been there looking at me. Then, a couple of days later we played again, this time against Vitesse, and once again after the game my manager said that Fulham were there to watch. The next day he gave me a ring and told me that Fulham wanted me, and they wanted the transfer to happen right away, rather than in the summer.
“Manchester City had wanted me for a couple of months – I knew that and I also knew that Ajax and PSV were interested, but I think that was dependent on other strikers moving on from those two clubs. I knew Tigana was the trainer here and I knew about players like Saha, Edwin van der Sar and Bobby Petta – because they are Dutch.
“I just had a good feeling about Fulham. Manchester City are much lower in the League and Fulham are doing very well this season. And also Edwin called me about two or three times and told me about Fulham and what a good club it was and that really helped. It’s good that there are a couple of Dutch players here – it’s helped me settle in.”
John admitted playing in the Premier League was a big motivation given the status of English football.
Of course! I like the football here, I like the supporters – people are football crazy in England! In Holland people like football but they like other sports too. Here in England everyone is mad about football. When I’ve seen van Nistelrooy score, the reaction from the fans is amazing and I like that a lot. When I was small I always used to watch Match of the Day on TV, so I’ve always wanted to play here. But I think the first match will be very difficult for me – it will take time to adapt. But I know it took van Nistelrooy time to adapt too because I read his story when he first signed for Manchester United. But I’m not afraid. I know I can play good football here.
The youngster believes he will be comfortable playing in any system.
“Any formation – for me it’s no problem. Chris Coleman told me recently that he watched me two years ago – I didn’t know that! And at that time we played 4-3-3. But as I said, it’s not problem which system I play in. If he wants me to play in a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2 I can do that. I may need time to get used to it, but for me it’s not a problem. In Holland I played on the right because they had another striker who was older and more experienced than me, but I still scored nine goals this season. I can play where ever the coach asks me to play.
He was quick to thank his team-mates for their support in his early days with his new club.
“It’s all much bigger than at FC Twente. And the people have all been so friendly to me – Goma is a great man. Lee Clark, Boa Morte, Inamoto – they’ve all been so good to me. Everybody is really friendly here and I feel very comfortable. They encourage me to be myself and that’s really important.”
