Revealed: Liverpool target Joao Palhinha's price-tag

Stuart Telford

• 4 May 2023 10:18 BST
• 3 min read

Liverpool will have to pay Fulham more than £50 million this summer if they are to beat Bayern Munich to Joao Palhinha's signature, according to reports.

Liverpool are desperate to bolster their midfield this summer with Jordan Henderson now 33, Thiago Alcantara increasingly injured and James Milner set to join Naby Keita in leaving on a free, with Brighton at the front of the queue for the former England man.

Jude Bellingham had been Jurgen Klopp's top transfer target, but Borussia Dortmund's €120-150 million asking price has proved prohibitively expensive for the Reds' FSG owners - publicly at least.

READ: 'Most likely scenario' for Bellingham transfer revealed

Palhinha has been identified as a viable alternative - alongside Ryan Gravenberch, Mason Mount and others - but the Portuguese won't come cheap.

"Fulham will demand offers in excess of £50 million for Liverpool and Bayern Munich target Joao Palhinha this summer, sources have told Football Insider," report the aforementioned.

"The Cottagers are hopeful of securing a huge profit on Palhinha after signing him from Sporting CP for a reported £20m just last summer."

READ: Who is Joao Palhinha? Ronaldo's friend linked with Man Utd

Value for money

Fulham paid Sporting €20M (£17.6m) for Palhinha last July, well inside his ETV range of €23.8m according to FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm.

They will feel confident of demanding at least twice that figure with the Portugal international under contract at Craven Cottage until June 2027.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have also reportedly registered their interest in Palhinha, so a bidding war would further drive up his price.

A defensive midfielder by trade, Palhinha has won 251 duels in the Premier League this season at an average of eight every 90 minutes he has played, which puts him clear of others in his position such as Moises Caicedo and Tyler Adams.

Palhinha has been capped 20 times by his country and helped them to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar in December.