November 14, (THEWILL) – Fulham are making contingency plans to replace star midfielder Joao Palhinha in the January transfer window, amid renewed interest from Bayern Munich.
The 28-year-old Portuguese international nearly joined the German giants last summer for a fee of around £60 million, even travelling to Munich on deadline day ready to sign. However, the move collapsed as Fulham could not find a replacement in time.
Palhinha has since signed a lucrative new long-term contract at Craven Cottage, although Bayern remain keen on luring him away. While insisting they want to keep the player, Fulham are looking at potential midfield targets like Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips and Tottenham’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as they realise Bayern’s interests are still alive and Palhinha wants to play at a higher level.
Bayern’s desire to sign Palhinha has been reaffirmed by their Sporting Director, Christoph Freund. He stated that the midfielder remains on their radar after intense negotiations last summer, although nothing is certain for January yet. Palhinha has also spoken openly about his ambition to reach greater heights in the game at age 28.
With the January window approaching, it appears only a matter of time before Bayern make their move for Palhinha again. Fulham will likely drive a hard bargain but know they must have replacements lined up to fill the void left by their talismanic midfielder.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
