Chelsea are expected to seal the deal for Tosin Adarabioyo.
The 26-year-old will leave Fulham this month when his contract expires and he will join Chelsea on a free transfer.
Sources told HITC that Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United were keen to bring the central defender to St James’ Park, but when he accepted to move to Chelsea, they withdrew their offer.
The London club ended the season by finishing sixth in the Premier League table and they were supposed to secure Europa League football, but Manchester United’s FA Cup final win dropped them down to the Conference League.
Mauricio Pochettino left days later to the surprise of many and Chelsea then opted to bring in Enzo Maresca from Leicester City.
Even before the Italian could get warm into his seat, there were already reports that Adarabioyo was headed to the Bridge, which probably indicates who is making the transfer calls here.
Adarabioyo is actually known to Maresca because they worked alongside each other when he was coming through at Manchester City.
But Perry Groves has some doubts over the player’s ability, as he puts pen-to-paper on a deal at Chelsea, by stating that he ‘loses concentration’ and doesn’t think about the ‘what ifs’ in the game, as he told talkSPORT.
Adarabioyo played 20 games for Marco Silva’s side this term and will now be taking up a step in his career.
Tosin Adarabioyo under Enzo Marseca at Chelsea
“The thing with Tosin, I have seen him a couple of times,” said Groves. “He is decent on the ball. He’s very strong. Very athletic and very quick.
“But he loses concentration sometimes and he just drifts out of position. I don’t think he thinks about the ‘what ifs enough’. What if we lose possession? What if the ball breaks down? Am I going to get myself exposed? That’s what I think he needs to add to his game.”
Tosin Adarabioyo’s game time
The issue here is that Adarabioyo is now going to face serious competition for a starting place and he will be surrounded by expensive players.
It would be easier for the manager to bench him because he is a free transfer, so it will be interesting to see just how many minutes he plays.
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Chelsea are back in Europe, so there are extra games to deal with and that will allow the squad to have more minutes.
But you just wonder if Adarabioyo was better off joining Newcastle, where things seem more stable, rather than signing for Chelsea, who could have another manager by the time the year is out.
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