Brighton have had an offer for Amadou Haidara rejected by RB Leipzig, who have told the midfielder that they do not want to sell him this month.
A clause in the 24-year-old Haidara’s contract allows him to leave the Bundesliga side in the summer. It is anticipated there will be interest from Premier League teams and clubs competing in the Champions League.
Brighton have been informed that Leipzig are not interested in a sale this late in the window, particularly when they are four points below Bayern Munich at the top of the table. Haidara, previously linked with Manchester United and Liverpool, has accepted Leipzig’s stance.
Brighton’s interest in Haidara comes as they begin to look for potential replacements for Moisés Caicedo. Chelsea have had a £55m bid for Caicedo rejected and are likely to need to offer at least £75m to tempt Brighton into a sale. The Ecuador international, also targeted by Liverpool, will stay at the Amex Stadium until the summer.
Fulham are close to signing the Arsenal full-back Cédric Soares on loan for the rest of the season. Marco Silva is keen to increase his defensive options and knows Soares well after managing him at Sporting.
Talks over the former Southampton player have gone well and it is expected that Fulham will cover the Portugal international’s wages. The loan is not expected to contain an option or obligation to buy.
Soares, who has 18 months on his contract, has struggled for playing time since joining Arsenal two years ago. Mikel Arteta has favoured Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu at right-back.
However, Silva believes Soares’s experience and versatility would be a good fit for Fulham, who are seventh after losing to Tottenham on Monday. Soares will compete with Kenny Tete for a starting spot.
Fulham have used their quota of two Premier League loans, having taken Shane Duffy from Brighton and Daniel James from Leeds. The deal for Soares cannot go ahead unless they cancel one of those. An alternative would be to sign Duffy or James on a permanent basis.
