Fulham intensify pursuit of Aston Villa defender Diego Carlos with West Ham also interested

Villa open to offers for the 31-year-old Brazilian who has two years remaining on his contract

Fulham have stepped up their interest in Diego Carlos, with the defender expected to leave Aston Villa before the transfer window shuts.
Carlos was not in the Villa squad for Wednesday night’s pre-season friendly win over Athletic Bilbao and is not believed to have been injured.
Villa are open to offers for the 31-year-old Brazilian, who has two years remaining on his contract, with Fulham among the clubs to be taking an interest.
Carlos is also on West Ham United’s list of potential replacements for Kurt Zouma, who is on the brink of joining Shabab Al-Ahli in Dubai.
But it is Fulham who are currently considered the frontrunners for Carlos after stepping up their initial interest.
Carlos was sent-off during a pre-season defeat to RB Leipzig on Villa’s tour of the United States and it remains to be seen if he will be involved against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Villa will almost certainly enter the market for a defender should Carlos leave and have a number of potential targets, including Dutch defender Lutsharel Geertruida and Liverpool’s Joe Gomez.
Both Geertruida and Gomez can play in the centre of defence and at full-back, which would give Villa head coach Unai Emery valuable options at the back.
Geertruida, a Dutch international, has one year remaining on his Feyenoord contract and has been linked with RB Leipzig already this summer.
Should Fulham land Carlos, then West Ham could rival Crystal Palace for Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah.
Chalobah, along with Maxence Lacroix, has been lined up as a potential replacement for Marc Guehi at Palace, but the Hammers could make an offer to take him on loan with the obligation or option to buy him permanently next summer.
Chelsea value Chalobah, who was left off the club’s United States tour, at £25 million and would rather sell him permanently this year.