Manager confirms £30m Fulham switch and Leicester move with talks at ‘final’ stage

With only a week remaining in the transfer window, time is running out for the Premier League clubs who still feel they have gaps to fill in their roster.

Fulham have signed Emile Smith Rowe, Ryan Sessegnon and Jorge Cuenca while tying up a £25 million deal for Burnley midfielder Sander Berge.

Following the departure of Tosin Adarabioyo to local rivals Chelsea, however, Marco Silva’s side still seem short of options on the right-hand side of their backline.

Leicester City, meanwhile, are struggling at the other end of the pitch. Jamie Vardy started and scored against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday but relying on a 37-year-old – Paston Daka is injured long-term and Kelechi Iheanacho has gone – is hardly an ideal scenario.

Coincidentally, it now appears that Fulham and Leicester have found the answer to both of their problems at Selhurst Park.

Fulham and Leicester City near Crystal Palace raid

HITC understands that Joachim Andersen is set to return to Craven Cottage in a deal worth £30 million.

Jordan Ayew, despite an impressive pre-season, will become Leicester’s second signing of the week to the tune of £8 million, following in the footsteps of Oliver Skipp per the Daily Mail.

And ahead of Crystal Palace’s London derby with West Ham United on Saturday, Eagles boss Oliver Glasner has now confirmed that neither Andersen nor Ayew will be in the squad as talks over a move away continue to progress.

“Joachim won’t be available,” Glasner tells London News Online. “He’s in final negotiations (with Fulham).

“The same with Jordan Ayew.”

Crystal Palace are letting Andersen return to the club he represented on loan in 2020/21. That is despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding fellow defender Marc Guehi and much to the confusion of former chairman Steve Parish.

Newcastle are refusing to accept defeat in pursuit of Guehi despite seeing four bids rejected. Their moist recent offer was a club-record figure in the region of £65 million.

“I expect everyone to be a Crystal Palace player until someone tells me something different,” Glasner responds when quizzed on Guehi’s situation, the England international expected to be available for West Ham’s visit to Selhurst Park.

“In the end, it’s always (the player’s) decision. I expect everyone here. We now have 18 outfield players available.”

Joachim Andersen and Jordan Ayew on the move

The versatile Ayew will add depth to Leicester’s frontline, a la fellow summer arrival Bobby De Cordova-Reid. The experienced Ghanaian can play through the middle but is arguably at his most effective as a hard-running wide-forward on the right-hand side.

Ayew, then, will give Leicester boss Steve Cooper a more workmanlike alternative to the flashy but inconsistent Abdul Fatawu.

Crystal Palace may have already secured Ayew’s replacement in Ismaila Sarr.

HITC also understands that Glasner’s former Wolfsburg stalwart Maxence Lacroix is on their list of potential Andersen successors. Chelsea misfit Trevoh Chalobah is another option, while Bayer Leverkusen have refused to rule out the departure of £20 million Bundesliga winner Odilon Kossounou amid links with The Eagles.

“In principle, we are also planning with Odilon,” Leverkusen director Rolfes tells Sport of the 23-year-old Kossounou. “Because we saw last year that he is a player with a lot of quality and a lot of potential.

“(But sometimes) they have the feeling; ‘OK, how much playing time can I get? What are my prospects?’ And then sometimes they come up with the idea or consider moving again.

“I can’t say,” Rolfes adds when pressed further on a potential departure in the final week of the window. “But in principle he is actually a player we are planning to use.

“But of course it is possible that there will be one or two changes in our squad.”