Dharmesh Sheth reveals Fulham could compromise with West Ham United over £80m fee for Joao Palhinha
West Ham could reach a compromise with Fulham over Joao Palhinha after the midfielder was injured in a pre-season friendly, according to Dharmesh Sheth.
Speaking to GiveMeSport on 25 July, the Sky Sports journalist said the Cottagers could be persuaded into selling the Portuguese international for less than the £80million fee they have placed on his head.
But after the 28-year-old suffered a shoulder injury in his side’s friendly against Brentford on 23 July, Sheth questioned whether that could change the Hammers’ approach to signing him after having an initial bid of £45million rejected on 17 July.
“There is no question that there is interest in Joao Palhinha, but I wonder if this injury is going to change the dynamic on that one,” said Sheth.
“They had a £45million bid rejected last week, and they’ve had more talks where Fulham aren’t really budging on their valuation. Publicly, it’s around £80million, but they will probably compromise on that. That’s probably a start of a negotiation.
“I think West Ham United, with all of that in mind, are probably thinking, ‘are we going to go back in or are we going to focus on other targets?’. With this injury, I wonder what impact that will have on what West Ham want to do.”
Not worth it
There is no way Palhinha is worth anywhere near the £80million valuation Fulham have placed on his head and, even if they do bring that price down a bit, it probably still won’t be value for money.
Although the midfielder has impressed since arriving at Craven Cottage from Sporting Lisbon for £20million a year ago, he has only played one season in the Premier League and there’s no guarantee he will be able to take that form forward to a new club.
If he has suffered what is a suspected dislocated shoulder, that could also keep him out for the best part of a couple of months and we can’t afford to be signing an injured player for a lot of money.
It seems very unlikely that the Hammers hierarchy is going to continue pursuing a deal for Palhinha on the back of his injury and due to Fulham’s asking price.
There are plenty of other targets available – many of which are cheaper and younger – so it’s time to push forward with them and leave behind any ambitions of signing the Portuguese for the time being.
In other West Ham news, a CL club has shown an interest in a Hammers star and a player David Moyes wants to sign.