Fulham are reportedly set to block any potential bids for key defender Tosin Adarabioyo in the upcoming January transfer window amid interest from fellow Londoners Tottenham Hotspur.
According to Football Insider, the Cottagers are adamant that they won’t budge on their stance to reject any approaches for Tottenham target Tosin Adarabioyo in January, even though the 26-year-old is out of contract this summer and has turned down offers of a new deal.
The English centre-back, who joined the Cottagers from Manchester City in 2020, has entered the final 12 months of his deal, which expires at the end of the season. He was linked with a move away last summer after garnering interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco.
However, a transfer ultimately didn’t come to fruition, which meant Adarabioyo stayed with the Cottagers when the summer transfer market closed.
Having missed more than two months of the season after undergoing groin surgery, Adarabioyo returned to action in November and has quickly re-established himself in the Fulham side, having played every minute of the Cottagers’ last four games, including the back-to-back 5-0 thrashings of Nottingham Forest and West Ham in the Premier League.
He also scored the decisive spot kick in the quarter-final tie against Everton to help Fulham reach their first-ever EFL Cup semi-final. Manager Marco Silva described the centre-back as a “key player” and “one of the leaders” in the Fulham dressing room following his side’s win on Tuesday night.
Despite working his way back into Marco Silva’s plan, the 26-year-old’s future at Craven Cottage is well and truly up in the air.
Fulham are trying to persuade him to sign fresh terms at Craven Cottage, but Football Insider claims that the two parties are still far apart and he is set to depart the club.
While Adarabioyo could leave for free at the end of the campaign, Fulham still expect the Manchester City academy product to stay in January. Tosin will be able to agree to a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club at the start of next month.
Tottenham are long-time admirers of Adarabioyo, and there is the possibility they see him as a January solution to their centre-back shortage. The Lilywhites’ will soon be boosted by the return of star defender Micky van de Ven from a hamstring injury, with the Dutch international set to return to action next month.
In Van de Ven’s absence, full-backs Ben Davies and Emerson Royal have played central roles to varying degrees of success. Nevertheless, Spurs will attempt to bring in another option at the heart of defence, and Adarabioyo fits the bill, but Fulham will hope the prospect of a pay rise will entice Adarabioyo to put pen to paper on a new deal in the near future.
