Birmingham City have emerged as strong contenders to win the race to sign Standard Liege striker Dieumerci Mbokani.
The 24-year-old DR Congo international is set to leave the Belgian club this summer, with Italian outfit Lazio the Blues' main rivals for his signature.
Mbokani has told Standard that he will not feature in any pre-season games to avoid injuries, saying:"What is the point in playing in exhibition games, that is no good – I risk getting an injury.
"Since last week I have been training with full devotion and please, it is not my intention to pollute the group with a bad atmosphere.
"I just won't play in the friendly games, it makes no sense for someone who is leaving.
"My agent has talked with Lazio and I talked with Birmingham. It is also not correct that there was contact with Fulham.
"Chief executive Pierre Francois has assured me that he and (director) Luciano D'Onofrio were in London, but just talked about another player and not with Fulham, not about me.
"They have no reason to lie to me about something and I have no reason to doubt his words."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email