The saga of West Ham and the replacement of Declan Rice continues. As the North Londoners look to find a perfect replacement for the Englishman, they now shift their focus to Fulham‘s Joao Palhinha.
After his stellar performances for club and country, the Portuguese international’s stay at Craven Cottage is gaining questions. The £20 million star has impressed one and all in his debut season. The defensive midfielder was upto the task in every game that he stepped up making tackles and winning aerial duels whilst also scoring 4 important goals this season. Palhinha still has a five-year contract with Fulham but may well leave the club to enjoy European Football.
Although West Ham finished lower in the Premier League table than Fulham who were three places afar any European football, the team led by David Moyes will play upcoming Europa League courtesy of their Europa Confederate League title. That final victory over Fiorentina was West Ham’s first-ever piece of silverware.
West Ham are extremely interested in getting their hands on Palhinha according to renowned Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth. He said: “Palhinha from Fulham, West Ham are very, very interested in him. There was a report going out that he had a release clause in his contract and on Twitter, Tony Khan, the football director at Fulham actually replied to that report and said, ‘no, there is no release clause’.
“So Fulham are in the driving seat here simply because he’s got a contract until 2027, he’s still got four years left on it and he had a fantastic season, so his value has only gone up.”
Fulham would not be willing to sell their £20 million star that they had just purchased last season and with his contract expiring in 2027, he won’t come in cheap for West Ham as well. Money of all things should not be an issue for the North Londoners at all as they look to sell Declan Rice for over £100 million.
West Ham are now considerably experienced in playing European competition since 2021 and this is the only prospect that can lure the 27-year-old to join the Hammers.
