NEWCASTLE United are closing in on a deal for Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo, according to reports.
The Magpies have targeted an early summer deal for the 26-year-old centre-back, who is available on a free transfer.
Adarabioyo has been linked with a number of clubs but Eddie Howe’s Newcastle have been reported to be in pole position to land the former Manchester City man.
Meanwhile, Cottagers boss Marco Silva said it wasn’t a “lack of braveness” after the hosts were blown away 4-0 by City at Craven Cottage last weekend.
Josko Gvardiol scored twice either side of Phil Foden’s goal before Issa Diop was shown a second yellow card in stoppage-time for bringing down Julian Alvarez who scored the resulting penalty.
It meant City went top of the table before Arsenal regained that spot by beating Manchester United on Sunday to take the title race to the last day.
“I can’t say we didn’t try,” Silva said. “In some moments we have to be brave. We planned the game to be brave.
“This team have the ability to have long possessions that can take energy from you. Emotional energy. It’s crucial against these sides. In the first half we lost the ball too quickly. It wasn’t the case of lack of braveness.”
Silva added: “To concede goals like that against a top side like City makes it difficult. We kept them quiet, not big chances, but we weren’t able to create anything. There’s two parts: Keep them quiet and we should have created more.
“And conceding goals like that against a top side like City, of course makes it much more difficult for us, and this is what’s happened in the game.
“We had one or two moments, more with Alex [Iwobi] who was the player in that pocket area where we tried to help him create something. Apart from that, nothing really special.
“At half-time we tried to change things to give us more power in our attack line, to put a different player on our right-hand side with Adama Traoré, with the help of Andreas Pereira, together with Tom Cairney to give a little bit more quality in our build-up, and from that moment to try to be more offensive.
“The start of the second half was good, we didn’t create many but I think we had a good chance with Rodrigo [Muniz] after the cross from Adama. Apart from that, nothing more, and the second goal killed the game.”
