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 how 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.