What is indirect form of: he said, "If I were you, I would protest."

Question

What is indirect form of:

He said, "If I were you, I would protest."

I think the answer is:

If he had been I, he would have protested

Can it also be:

If he had been me instead of I

or is that wrong ?

Answer 1

An indirect form could be:

"He said that if he had been me, he would have protested."

It may be that "I" is strictly correct. But in practice most people would say "me".

If common usage dictates correctness, thus making "me" the correct answer, then apparently the English language has veered off course into a world of logical and grammatical errors. So it goes.

Answer 2

Most native English speakers will naturally use "me" instead of "I" unless it is the first noun in the phrase. So we would say "If he had been me, he would have protested."