LIVERPOOL WANT TO SIGN ‘PHENOMENAL’ PLAYER AS WEST HAM OPEN TALKS
Liverpool are back in for Fulham midfieldera Joao Palhinhbut West Ham United are now in talks over a £40million deal.
Joao Palhinha has become a top target for West Ham United amid rumoured interest from Liverpool.
That is according to TalkSPORT, who claim that West Ham are in talks with Fulham over a deal for Palhinha.
It’s suggested that West Ham are hopeful of securing Palhinha’s signature for around £40million this summer.
That’s double the £20million Fulham paid to lure Palhinha away from Sporting in his native Portugal last summer.
Yet it still may not be enough to tempt Fulham into selling their prized midfielder.
The Daily Mail reported in June that Fulham had slapped a staggering £90million price tag on Palhinha.
It’s hard to see West Ham going to that kind of figure for Palhinha, even after selling Declan Rice to Arsenal.
Joao Palhinha can replace Declan Rice’s defensive output
West Ham may need to bring in two midfielders to replace Rice; that’s just how well-rounded he has become.
One midfielder may be added for the defensive side of the game with another coming in as a box-to-box, ball-carrying midfielder.
From a defensive perspective, there may not be many better out there than Palhinha.
The 28-year-old racked up a ridiculous 147 tackles last season – 47 more than second-placed Moises Caicedo.
Rice registered 79, with Palhinha just dominating the competition in that statistic.
Rice was top of the charts for interceptions with 63 whilst Palhinha ranked 18th in the Premier League with 46 interceptions.
West Ham’s thinking is clear, believing that a pure holding midfielder like Palhinha can free up others to get forward.
£40million would be great business but £90million is surely a price West Ham won’t go anywhere near.
West Ham must be wary of Liverpool
West Ham’s alleged talks to sign Palhinha come just as rumours over a move to Liverpool have emerged again.
Liverpool are set to lose their star holding midfielder Fabinho with Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad closing in.
The Liverpool Echo reported over the weekend that Palhinha is back on the table as a Liverpool target in light of Fabinho’s exit.
Again, Palhinha’s defensive mastery would be welcomed at Liverpool, especially after signing two more attack-minded stars in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Palhinha – hailed as ‘absolutely phenomenal’ by pundit Danny Murphy – would provide the solid base, freeing up Liverpool’s two new midfielders to go forward and create.
This could end up being a Liverpool v West Ham transfer battle and that may be very difficult for David Moyes to win.
