The Portuguese midfielder has proven over the past 18 months that he should be playing for a top club, and after a move to Bayern Munich fell through in the summer, the race is on to sign him in January.
It’s said that Arsenal are interested in the Fulham star, but speaking on The Debrief, Ben Jacobs has shared some doubts around whether or not Arsenal will be able to get this deal done.
After spending over £200m in the summer, Arsenal are cutting it fine in terms of FFP, and according to Jacobs, Arsenal may only be able to do this deal if they can negotiate a loan with an option to buy.
Palhinha might only join Arsenal on loan
Jacobs shared what he knows about the Fulham ace.
“Fulham are looking for what I would term crazy money for Joao Palhinha. Closer to £70-75m. What we can say is that the Arsenal interest is very genuine. If Arsenal had dream business it would be Douglas Luiz, but that aside if they could get Joao Palhinha there is certainly admiration and they have done due-diligence on it. It’s just whether January is possible because the price is so high. I don’t think it’s geared to Arsenal unless they can do what they did with David Raya and get him on loan with an option or obligation to buy, but Fulham may not play ball,” Jacobs said.
No chance
There’s absolutely no way Fulham will sanction such a deal, surely.
Palhinha has only just signed a new contract with Fulham, and if the Whites are to sell their most important player in January, they will want money in return to replace him and improve their squad elsewhere.
Letting Palhinha go on loan would make no sense from a Fulham perspective, especially as they’ll be able to find a buyer elsewhere if necessary.
Unless Arsenal can find the cash, they won’t be getting Palhinha in January.
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