Fulham’s Nigerians: What next after inevitable relegation?

As Ola Aina tried in vain to prevent Timo Werner’s well-timed pass to Kai Havertz in the opening stages of the second half, the immediate seconds after Chelsea’s second in the 2-0 win were telling.

Fulham defenders stared at themselves, wondering how they’d allowed both Germany internationals combine quite easily in their defensive third to, more or less, kill any hope of a comeback after half-time.

A visibly deflated Aina sat on the Stamford Bridge turf as Havertz wheeled away, knowing full well his reunion with old friends was likely to end in defeat.

The ex-Blue may feel he could have prevented the gangly attacker’s first as well and, having nearly equalized just before the break — Edouard Mendy reacted well to palm away the deflected effort — the Torino loanee probably cursed Lady Luck.

Despite a tenacious and positive first-half showing, Fulham’s lack of quality in the attacking third and their penchant for conceding ill-timed goals saw them fall to their sixth defeat in eight games and 17th of the season.

While he’s arguably been their player of the season, Ademola Lookman’s showing in the tea-time encounter typified the Cottagers’ season of near misses and what-ifs.

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Aina, Lookman and Josh Maja represent three of the plethora of temporary signings made by the club and while it’s always easy to look forward to a return to one’s parent club, the circumstances at Torino, Leipzig and Bordeaux respectively mean it’s unlikely to be straightforward decisions.

Identically to Fulham, the Serie A and Ligue 1 sides could find themselves playing in the nation’s second-tier as well next season, although Torino’s resurgence under Davide Nicola currently puts them three points ahead of the 18th-placed Benevento in Italy.

On the other hand, Maja is likely to return to a club in turmoil after American owners King Street pulled their support of the Girondins in late April.

More salt could be rubbed in the club’s wounds if they suffer the double-blow of relegation, which remains a possibility given their run of eight defeats from 10 leaves them five points ahead of Nantes with three games to play.

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This is a disappointment for the towering youngster whose delight at finally playing regularly in the top flight was evident upon signing for the London side in October last year.

However, that run in the big time may now be short-lived.

Three of the side’s final four matches fall into the ‘winnable games’ category, with encounters against Burnley, Southampton and Newcastle United on the final day to come in the coming weeks.

Winning all three and getting something from a daunting trip to Manchester United in the penultimate gameweek will represent one of the most captivating, unforeseen survival battles in Premier League history.

Parker has beseeched his players to “give their best until the curtain comes down”, but the likelihood of escaping now appears pretty grim.

When their exit is finally confirmed, the likes of Lookman, Aina, Maja and Tosin will have to make decisions that could have ramifications on their careers.