ExWHUemployee reveals Joao Palhinha wants to join West Ham United, Fulham must lower price
West Ham target Joao Palhinha wants to move to East London after Fulham rejected a bid for the midfielder, according to ExWHUemployee.
The Athletic reported on 17 July that The Cottagers had turned down an offer from the Hammers for the Portuguese international that was reportedly worth £45million.
That is significantly less than the £90million valuation the Daily Mail claimed Fulham had slapped on the 28-year-old’s head on 20 June, with the club using the Hammers’ demands for Declan Rice as a benchmark.
Speaking on The West Ham Way Patreon, ExWHUemployee said: “While Fulham are said to have turned down the first offer from West Ham for Joao Palhinha, the player is said to want a move across London.
“He could speak to Fulham to see what their plans are for him. Although as of our last report, the club do have a number of other defensive midfielder targets so Fulham would have to lower their demands significantly for a deal to happen.”
Too much
There is no doubt about it that Fulham’s reported valuation of the midfielder is far too much, given that he’s only played one season in the Premier League, even if it was highly impressive.
The Portuguese, who made the move to Craven Cottage from Sporting Lisbon for £20m a year ago, scored three goals in 35 Premier League appearances last season.
It’s his defensive stats that really caught the eye throughout the campaign, though, as he topped the charts with 147 tackles – a remarkable 47 more than his nearest competitor (Premier League).
But to use Rice as a benchmark is quite absurd, as the England international has proven over a number of years that he is one of the Premier League’s best midfielders and he’s four years younger than Palhinha.
As ExWHUemployee pointed out, Fulham will have to lower their demands for the midfielder, who clearly wants to join us, so it’s down to them and the player to come to some sort of agreement to allow the deal to go ahead.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers are battling a fierce rival for an “extraordinary” midfielder.