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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Dom Smith

Fulham and Crystal Palace transfer fight brewing over Luton star Teden Mengi

Fulham and Crystal Palace are interested in signing Luton defender Teden Mengi.

But Luton see Mengi as crucial to their fight to stay up and insist he is not for sale.

Mengi has started every Premier League match for the Hatters since mid-October.

The 21-year-old centre-back joined last summer from Manchester United, where he had captained the Under-18s and turned out twice for the first team.

His impressive performances have attracted attention, with Palace and Fulham now both interested in pursuing Mengi as an option in the heart of defence.

Impressive season: Luton's Teden Mengi has the caught the eye of two London rivals (Getty Images)

But Luton will not sanction the sale of key players this month, as they bid for Premier League survival.

Luton manager Rob Edwards insisted last week that Luton would not “weaken” themselves in the January transfer window.

Bids for Mengi must therefore wait until the summer to be considered.

Fulham are not in immediate need for a centre-back, but succession planning is understandable given that Tim Ream turns 37 this year and Tosin Adarabioyo’s future remains uncertain.

Meanwhile, Palace have started first-choice centre-back pairing Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen in all but one of their 20 Premier League games so far this season.

James Tomkins, 34, is out of contract this summer, and Palace are already tracking a number of young defenders, including Cristhian Mosquera of Valencia and Peterborough's Ronnie Edwards.

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