Chelsea are “closing in” on a deal to sign Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo, Fabrizio Romano has just reported.
The Blues are in the “final stages” of negotiations after beating interest from Newcastle to seal the deal. The former Man City youth player is available on a free transfer after some really impressive seasons with Marco Silva’s side, and Chelsea haven’t hesitated to jump on that bargain.
We always like to see a deal concluded early – that has value in itself. Our new manager will have Tosin signed up before he himself has even officially arrived it seems.
Tosin is strong in the air and measures in at a mighty 196cm, adding an important element of height to a back line that was all too easily dominated at set pieces last season. At 26, he’s hardly a veteran, but relative to the inexperience and youth in the rest of the side, he will immediately arrive as one of the players in the dressing room with the most Premier League appearances.
These are all important qualities, and we’ve managed to add them to the squad early in June – impressive work from the sporting directors.
🚨🔵 EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea are closing in on deal to sign Tosin Adarabioyo, negotiations at final stages.
Newcastle have been working on Tosin deal for weeks but #CFC now clear favorites, cautious until it’s sealed.
Tosin to be first signing for Enzo Maresca, if all goes to plans. pic.twitter.com/G50wL6gwy3
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 1, 2024
A sensible deal done early
To us, this has always seemed like the most sensible way to proceed in terms of defenders this summer. In terms of replacing Thiago Silva, you want someone with Premier League experience, but you’ve also got a lot of players on the books already in that position, so spending major money on transfer fees would be a blow to our efforts to strengthen elsewhere.
This free transfer brings in a quality player without breaking the bank, gives Tosin the perfect platform to step up and play at a higher level, and replaces the depth we’re losing in the form of Silva and (sadly) Trevoh Chalobah too.
