Another Liverpool, Bayern Munich tussle brewing as £60m midfield colossus firmly on radar of both clubs
Joao Palhinha remains a target for Liverpool and Bayern
Liverpool and Bayern Munich are already seemingly in a battle to try and lure Xabi Alonso from Bayer Leverkusen as their next manager but another battle is brewing over a top midfielder.
Legendary Anfield midfielder Alonso remains Liverpool’s top target to replace the outgoing Jurgen Klopp this summer, although it’s rumoured that the Spaniard favours staying in Germany and swapping Leverkusen for Bayern instead.
The German giants are replacing Thomas Tuchel at the end of the season, although it was the former Chelsea boss who was pushing Bayern towards trying to strike a deal for Reds target Joao Palhinha last summer.
The Fulham star looked destined to head to head to Bavaria late in the window, with Marco Silva lining up Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as his replacement. But after the Tottenham man changed his mind over a move across London, the Cottagers were forced to pull the plug on Palhinha’s sale.
But despite Tuchel’s impending exit, Football Insider reports that Bayern are still ready to pursue a swoop for the Portugal international this summer.
That is bad news for Liverpool, as they view the Fulham man as the perfect player to fill their defensive midfield void.
Wataru Endo was brought in to try and offset the loss of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson last summer, and although the Japan international was excellent in the Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea, at 31 years of age he has three years on Palhinha.
Fulham open to Palhinha offers
And while it was previously thought that Palhinha was untouchable at Craven Cottage, Fulham vice-chairman Tony Khan recently confirmed the club will “have to consider” sensible offers for their star midfielder, with Arsenal and Chelsea also keen on his signature.
Indeed, Khan told talkSPORT: “Joao Palhinha is a phenomenal player and I think Joao’s acclimation to the Premier League has shown that he is an amazing player.
“He’s a huge part of the core of Fulham and we love having him here.
“I would want him as part of the team for as long as possible and we were very happy to extend his contract, but if an offer came along that would make sense for everyone I think that’s something you have to consider with every player at the right time.
“We wanted to keep him and we have kept him, he’s staying with us and there’s a lot of demand for Palhinha. He was a great signing for us.
“I love working with Marco Silva and he’s someone I work really closely with over transfers and building the squad. I talk to him on a regular basis about these things, we made a great signing with Joao and there’s now a huge market, eyes have opened.
“He’s a great player for Fulham, we love having him and I want Joao to stay with us as long as possible.
“But it’s part of the business any time you sign a player potentially you know you’re hopefully going to grow their value and that might mean people are going to come in.
“It’s an exciting part of the industry, but certainly he as a person is central to our team and we love having him at Fulham.”
Khan’s admission comes despite him signing a fresh five-year contract in September 2023, with Fulham holding the option to extend that deal by a further 12 months.
Palhinha has made 28 appearances across all competitions this season, notching three goals and one assist.
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