Marco Silva says it was ‘easy’ to reject Monaco’s second offer for Tosin Adarabioyo – because the bid did not come close to matching Fulham’s valuation of their centre half.

The former Manchester City defender, who has made more than a hundred appearances for the Whites, is into the final twelve months of his Craven Cottage contract and has refused to sign a new deal having become frustrated by being kept out of the first eleven by Tim Ream and Issa Diop. Fulham turned down two offers from the Ligue 1 side – the 25 year-old centre back’s preferred destination – believed to be worth £4.3m and £8.5m.

Silva told his pre-match press conference ahead of today’s meeting with Brentford that the centre back, who has also been the subject of interest from Tottenham Hotspur, would not leave unless Fulham receive an acceptable offer.

“It’s easy: we rejected the offer that we received because it’s not even close to the value for the player. The player is so, so important for us. I understand that the player is in the last year of his contract. We tried to [extend] it. We are not able to do it for different reasons. But the player is our player.”