Tosin Adarabioyo: Premier League New Beautiful Bride

Four top Premier League sides- Newcastle, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have all made inquiries about out-of-contract Fulham’s Anglo-Nigerian defender, Tosin Adarabioyo ahead of the summer transfer window.

Despite money not readily available, Manchester United new owners, INEOS are looking to make a positive first impression and it’s a finely balanced situation that the Old Trafford club find themselves in.

As a result, Manchester United could look to utilise cheaper signings than they’re typically used to, as any outbound spending is largely dependent on selling players first.

Without wanting to delve too far behind their paywall, United are still weighing up a move to sign Adarabioyo.

The Fulham made has already been linked with a Manchester United move over the last few months, with the Manchester-born defender out of contract this summer. Adarabioyo is being eyed as a cheaper option due to the financial restraints that United find themselves under.

United could look to sign the 26-year-old on a free transfer, with Adarabioyo’s contract winding down to its conclusion during the upcoming summer transfer window. As things stand, all roads point to the centre-half leaving on a free.

Adarabioyo could be an extremely astute piece of business. He’s an excellent defender who’d definitely add some quality and consistency to a Red Devils backline that has majorly struggled for any sort of momentum-building form throughout the course of the campaign.

The issue for United however is that interest in Adarabioyo will be high due to the fact he’d come without a transfer fee.

The Manchester City academy graduate will end his four-year association with Fulham at the end of the season after turning down a new deal that would have made him one of the highest paid players at Craven Cottage.

Manchester United are in the market for a new central defender, with the futures of Raphaël Varane, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelöf and Jonny Evans uncertain.

Both Varane and Evans are out of contract at the end of the season, while either Maguire or Lindelöf is expected to leave the club during the summer.

The newly appointed technical director of Manchester United, Jason Wilcox, is familiar with Tosin from their tenure together at Manchester City.

Tosin has made 24 appearances in all competitions this term, including 22 starts, and was on target on two occasions.

He is now surplus to requirements at the Cottagers, with manager Marco Silva omitting him from the matchday squad in back-to-back games against Crystal Palace and Brentford despite being in tiptop condition.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United are understood to lead the race to sign the Fulham FC centre-back according to a report this Wednesday by Foot Mercato. The defender was touted last summer as a target for Ligue 1 side AS Monaco. The deal fell through and the outlet report that Les Monégasques are out of the race to sign Adarabioyo, whose status as a free agent in June has steered interest among Premier League outfits with Newcastle United leading the race to sign him.

Foot Mercato understands that positive talks occurred between the English centre-back and Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe. The outlet add that Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur were also interested in acquiring the services of Adarabioyo. However, the latter reportedly did not receive any guarantees from the Spurs regarding his game time. Besides, the lack of clarity surrounding the Blues’ sporting policy may have hampered Adarabioyo from making the short trip from Craven Cottage to Stamford Bridge.

Though, Chelsea have become renowned for their big spending under Todd Boehly, yet the Blues are targeting a summer move for a free agent and the 26-year-old, who was once on the book of Manchester City, could be a wise signing for the Stamford Bridge club.

Adarabioyo is out of contract at Fulham after signing for the Premier League side in 2020 for a fee of just €1.65 million (£1.5m). He has since gone on to play 78 Premier League matches for the Cottagers and is now seen as a potential solution to Chelsea’s central defensive woes.

Romano reports for the Daily Briefing: “Newcastle are in the race for Tosin Adarabioyo, that’s for sure. Talks are taking place, he’s one of the names in their list for sure, though nothing is done or agreed yet.

“Chelsea also called to be informed on Adarabioyo a few weeks ago but there’s nothing advanced and no proposal from them at this stage. Still, the defender will be leaving Fulham as a free agent, so it’s not surprising to see interest from multiple clubs.”

“Adarabioyo would go straight into the Chelsea starting XI, according to SciSports, which rates the Manchester-born player only behind Levi Colwill in this area of the field.

The analytics experts suggest that Adarabioyo is already a better player than the likes of Thiago Silva, who will leave Chelsea on a free transfer this summer, and Wesley Fofana, who has much to prove after another long-term injury.

The former England youth international joined Fulham from Manchester City, where he played under Jason Wilcox in the academy, for £2m in 2020. He played just a handful of first-team games for Pep Guardiola’s side and never featured in the Premier League but has blossomed in London.

It however remains to be seen which of the Premier League sides that have made their intention known wins his heart.

The Mirror however believes his history of working with United’s technical director, Wilcox, when the pair were at Manchester City, could help them.

“Manchester United could be in pole position to sign Fulham ace Tosin Adarabioyo,” the paper was quoted as saying.