Fulham open fresh contract talks with Adarabioyo in a bid to fend off bids from rivals

ENGLISH Premier League side Fulham have opened contract talks with Nigeria-eligible defender Tosin Adarabioyo to fend off interest from rival clubs amid speculation that he may be snapped up over the coming days.

Adarabioyo, 25 is a towering centreback, who originally came through the Manchester City academy before joining Fulham in 2020. He quickly established himself as a regular starter at Craven Cottage but of late, he has fallen out of favour and so far this season, Adarabioyo has only featured in five of Fulham's Premier League games.

With the transfer deadline closing on the last day of January, several Premier League teams as well as Monaco and a few German and Spanish sides are said to be weighing up biding for the defender. Adarabioyo is contracted to Fulham until June 30, 2024 after the club recently activated the option to extend his stay by an additional 12 months but with rivals looming, talks on a new contract have been initiated.

According to Sky Sports,  Fulham have no intention of parting company with Adarabioyo, who is eligible to play for Nigeria at senior level. In a bid to fend off interested from interested clubs, Fulham are working on extending his contract that would see him remain at the club beyond the end of the 2023/24 season.

Adarabioyo has seen his first team opportunities limited since October, prompting Monaco in particular to eye him as a potential replacement for  Benoît Badiashile who joined Chelsea recently. Adarabioyo is a former England youth international who has represented the country on 14 occasions across the various age-group levels.

This means that to play for Nigeria, he will have to go through a switch with global footballing body Fifa. He was previously reported to have turned down an approach by the Nigeria Football Federation to represent the Super Eagles but opened the door to a potential call-up in 2020 when he expressed his desires of playing at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with either England or Nigeria.