Fulham have just announced the departure of defender Tosin Adarabioyo on their Twitter account.
The 26 year old is preparing to join Chelsea, after a tussle with Newcastle for his signature on a free transfer. It’s not too often that a player of his quality is available on a free in their mid 20s, and Chelsea are happy to take advantage of that.
The savings made by adding him without a transfer fee should not only allow them to spend more elsewhere, it should also reduce the need to sell home grown players quite as urgently. That’s something we can all get behind.
There are a lot of central defenders on our books already, even with Thiago Silva leaving. But if last season taught us anything, it’s that you have to expect the unexpected when it comes to injuries.
132 appearances across four seasons.
Thank you, @TosinAdarabioyo. pic.twitter.com/we1pJEIIYq
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) June 5, 2024
An exciting move and a major step up
This announcement from Fulham is the penultimate step towards his arrival at Chelsea becoming official. Fabrizio Romano reported yesterday that he had completed his medical, and the other factor delaying the announcement (the appointment of new manager Enzo Maresca) has also been ticked off.
With Fulham now having done their part, it’s just down to Chelsea to make the announcement when they feel like it. It’s a big moment for Tosin, who was incredibly highly rated as a youngster in Man City’s academy, but has had to battle his way to the top with the Whites.
After 4 years of really positive development with Fulham in the Championship and Premier League, he now gets the chance to step up to a new level and show what his ceiling really is.
He faces decent competition to get into Chelsea’s first team, but has more than enough ability to beat them all out and become a regular.
