Fulham are ready to join the race to sign Manchester City youngster Oleksandr Zinchenko, according to a Daily Telegraph report this afternoon.
Championship winners Wolverhampton Wanderers are believed to have had a bid of around £16m accepted by the Premier League champions, whilst Newcastle have also registered their interest in signing the 21 year-old. The Telegraph claims that Fulham are ready to offer a higher up front offer, with Slavisa Jokanovic prepared to play the Ukrainian international in his preferred midfield position.
Zinchenko, who has largely been used as a wing-back by City boss Pep Guardiola, has made just sixteen first-team appearances since moving to the Etihad Stadium from Ufa for around £1.7,m in July 2016. He has also spent time on loan at PSV Eindhoven and has a host of admirers across Europe. Zinchenko, the youngest scorer of an international goal in Ukrainian football yesterday, is keen to play regular football and is understood to be waiting on the outcome of a discussion with Manchester City over their plans for him during the coming season.
The move for Zinchenko is yet another signal of Fulham’s ambitions as they plot their return to the Premier League following their defeat of Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final. The Cottagers sprung a major surprise in spending a rumoured £25m to complete a deal for Nice’s highly-rated Ivorian midfielder Jean-Michael Serri this morning and also brought in defender Maxime Le Marchand from the French club.
The Telegraph also reports that contract talks between Jokanovic, who has been in charge at Craven Cottage since December 2015, and Fulham are progressing well.
