West Ham United transfer news: Insiders make revelation as £90m price tag emerges for Fulham ace Joao Palhinha
West Ham are reportedly keen on Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha and a source at the club claims that he will cost £90million this summer.
According to the Irish Daily Mail [June 24, Page 68], insiders at Craven Cottage believe that £50million could get the deal done with the Portuguese midfielder identified as a Declan Rice replacement.
However, it’s been revealed that the Hammers may turn to other alternatives such as Edson Alvarez, Alex Scott or Kalvin Phillips.
Get reasonable
Just because the Hammers are getting £100million+ for Rice does not mean that they can pay crazy amounts of money for players like Palhinha.
For starters, the Portuguese is not nearly as good as the Hammers captain and David Moyes will have to bring in another quality midfielder to not feel the void of Rice.
Palhinha will be turning 24 next month which means that he’s already four years older than the England international and has an appalling booking record.
He picked up 14 yellow cards in the 2022/23 Premier League season and that’s because he throws himself to the floor more often than not but he isn’t a clean tackler like Rice is.
It remains to be seen who the Hammers end up bringing in for Rice but it’s good to see that they’ve got other options.
Kalvin Phillips, would it not have been for his injury issues, appears a good fit and it remains to be seen if Moyes goes down that route.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers are already preparing to cash in on the Declan Rice money as they hold a transfer meeting in London as they’re confident of sealing a £50million signing.