Man Utd and Tottenham want to sign Fulham star Tosin Adarabioyo
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have approached Tosin Adarabioyo to try and agree his signing on a pre-contract deal, TEAMtalk can exclusively reveal.
The former Manchester City academy prospect has been at Fulham since 2020, when he signed from the Citizens after successful loan spells at West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn Rovers. Since then, centre-back Adarabioyo has been a reliable performer in Fulham’s backline.
At 6ft 5in, Adarabioyo is strong both aerially and physically, but at the same time possesses calmness on the ball. He can spray balls from deep on either foot and break the lines with his passing, too.
Being at Fulham has only helped him to mature further as a player and develop the defensive side to his game.
Should either Man Utd or Tottenham sign Adarabioyo, then a big positive will be the fact he is classed as a homegrown player, due to him being English and coming through the ranks at City. This would help either club meet their homegrown player criteria.
On March 12, sources confirmed to TEAMtalk that Fulham are hoping to tie Adarabioyo down to fresh terms, in order to prevent him leaving Craven Cottage.
But those attempts have failed, and this prompted West Ham United to enter the race on Monday.
Rather than move to the London Stadium, though, Man Utd and Tottenham are currently best-placed to snap him up on a free transfer this summer.
Man Utd to address defensive problems
Man Utd have had a lot of issues with their defence this season due to injuries and players who are not the right profile needed to play out from the back successfully.
Bolstering their defensive ranks with the captures of players such as Adarabioyo and Jarrad Branthwaite would help them improve massively.
Plus, with current defenders including Jonny Evans and Raphael Varane likely to leave Old Trafford, Adarabioyo could pick up regular game time at Man Utd next season.
Adarabioyo would likely start less at Tottenham, though. As he plays purely in central defence, he would be battling it out with their top-class defensive stars.
Currently, Ange Postecoglou likes to select vice-captain Cristian Romero next to the pacy Micky van de Ven. There’s also January arrival Radu Dragusin to contend with, while Ben Davies and Emerson Royal can fill in at centre-half, too.
Spurs suffered from a poor run of results when Van De Ven was out injured and Romero got suspended. Landing Adarabioyo would prevent this from happening again in the future.
Fulham are hoping to keep the 26-year-old, as he is a crucial part of Marco Silva’s starting eleven. Plus, if Fulham want to move up the Premier League table, they need to retain their key players and build on the squad they already have.
But Man Utd and Spurs are lurking as they try to deprive Fulham of Adarabioyo.
