The silly season’s well and truly under way now.

Tomorrow’s Daily Mail carries a report detailing a real tug-of-war over Leicester’s Sol Bamba. Only earlier this afternoon, I was reading an article featuring Sven-Goran Eriksson claiming that his Foxes will find it even tougher in next year’s Championship. That would suggest that he’d be determined to hang onto his best players. If the Mail are to be believed, that resolve will be tested by interest from Aston Villa, Everton and Fulham as well as a couple of French sides.

Bamba has barely been at the Walker’s Stadium five months having signed from Hibernian at the start of the January window. He was impressive as Leicester surged up the Championship table towards the end of the season but concerted interest from Fulham would surprise me. Hughes has a settled central defensive partnership that won’t be broken up any time soon and Phillipe Senderos has been impressive in his few appearances since recovering from injury. Bamba’s arrival would hasten the end of Rafik Halliche’s Fulham career almost before it started, but I reckon he’ll end up elsewhere.