Le Guen’s rise

The defender made his senior breakthrough last season, making six appearances in Ligue 1 for Brest. Despite limited top-flight experience, Le Guen has demonstrated sufficient potential to attract attention from English clubs.

He is contracted to the Breton club until the summer of 2029, giving Brest significant leverage in any negotiations. The club has seen players leave this summer, which could create further first-team opportunities for Le Guen if he remains in France.

Premier League interest

Crystal Palace have emerged as firm admirers of the centre-back. Arsenal are also considering defensive reinforcements and have added Le Guen to their list of targets as they look to bolster squad depth.

Fulham are actively seeking to strengthen their back line, though they are evaluating multiple options. The Cottagers have also shortlisted Stade Rennais defender Abdelhamid Ait-Boudlal and Olympique de Marseille‘s Leonardo Balerdi, suggesting they have yet to identify a primary target.

What next?

With four years remaining on his contract, Brest are under no pressure to sell. They may prefer to continue Le Guen’s development within their first-team setup rather than sanction a transfer.

However, sustained interest from Premier League clubs could prove tempting for both the player and the club. Le Guen would face stiff competition for playing time at Crystal Palace, Arsenal or Fulham, making his immediate prospects in England uncertain compared to guaranteed minutes in Ligue 1.

Related coverage

• Fulham FC

• AFC Bournemouth have removed Alex Jimenez from their squad with immediate effect
• The club is investigating social media posts involving the 21-year-old defender
• He will not play in the Premier League clash against Fulham on Saturday
• The Spanish right-back joined from AC Milan last summer and signed permanently in February

AFC Bournemouth have suspended defender Alex Jimenez. The club is looking into posts on social media that involve the player.

The 21-year-old will not take part in the Premier League match with Fulham this weekend. Bournemouth confirmed this news in a statement on Friday.

The Spanish defender joined the south coast side from AC Milan in 2024. He first arrived on loan. The club then signed him permanently in February. His contract now runs until 2031.

The club stated they understand the seriousness of the situation. They are currently looking into the matter. They will not provide further comments at this time.

Jimenez has played 32 matches for Bournemouth this season. He scored one goal during the 3-2 victory against Liverpool at home.

• Bernd Leno’s brilliant 90th-minute stop on Dango Ouattara rescued a point for Fulham.
• Brentford’s fifth straight league draw leaves them still outside the European places.
• Marco Silva’s men failed to muster a single shot on target, stretching their score-less run to five of the last six matches.

A last-gasp fingertip save from Bernd Leno denied Brentford victory and kept the west-London derby goalless at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday evening.

The German keeper flung up his left hand to turn over Dango Ouattara’s close-range bullet in the final minute, moments after he had already clawed away a Mikkel Damsgaard drive from the edge of the box.

The point extends Brentford’s win-less streak to five league outings, all draws, and means they remain three points behind sixth-placed Liverpool in the race for continental football next season.

Keith Andrews’ side dominated territory after the break but could not break down a Fulham defence marshalled by Calvin Bassey and rescued repeatedly by Leno.

At the other end Marco Silva’s visitors rarely threatened; their clearest opening came when Ryan Sessegnon blazed over from inside the area after clever approach play by Harry Wilson and Emile Smith Rowe.

The loss of Alex Iwobi to a hamstring injury just before half-time further blunted Fulham’s creativity, leaving Silva to lament: “Alex links everything for us – we hope the scan brings good news.”

Andrews, who made no substitutions, defended his decision to stick with the starters. “The bench was either very young or defensive-minded,” he said. “I believed the lads on the pitch could find a winner.”

Brentford, transformed after last summer’s exodus of key names and head coach Thomas Frank, stay seventh with four home London derbies now drawn this campaign – an unbeaten but frustrating record.

Fulham, 12th at kick-off, climb only one place despite the point and have scored just once in their last six games in all competitions.