David Moyes head coach of West Ham United reacts during the Conference League Final between ACF Fiorentina and West Ham United FC at Eden Arena stadium. Prague (Czech Republic), June 7th, 2023. (Photo by Cesare Purini/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)
West Ham are set to walk away from a deal for 28-year-old Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha after having an initial bid rejected.
That’s according to The Athletic who reported a £45 million offer was rejected by Fulham yesterday.
As it stands the club are not expected to make a second offer and will now look at other targets.
Moyes and West Ham have a massive task on their hands to replace Declan Rice this summer and they are seemingly wasting no time.
Fulham are said to value their Portuguese midfielder at around £90m, a fee sure to put off any potential suitors.
Fulham are reluctant to sell their ‘special‘ midfielder in order to avoid a similar recruitment drive to West Ham before the season starts.
West Ham have been drawing up a long list of midfielders to replace Rice and were also said to hold significant interest in Monaco’s 24-year-old Youssouf Fofana.
Palhinha unlikely to replace Rice at West Ham
Despite West Ham’s interest it seems Joao Palhinha will remain at Craven Cottage next season.
The 28-year-old, with 21 caps for Portugal, was voted Fulham’s Player of the Season for 2022/23, winning by a landslide 58.6% of the vote.
Interestingly he wouldn’t have been a typical replacement for Declan Rice and would represent a stylistic change for Moyes’ side.
Rice had a strong reputation for his ball-carrying and progressive passing but Palhinha is seen as a more typical combative defensive midfielder.
There’s no doubting the quality of the Portuguese international, but he wouldn’t represent a seamless transition playing alongside the likes of Tomas Soucek and Lucas Paqueta.
Aside from Rice, West Ham’s Flynn Downes has also been linked with a move away from the club.
The 24-year-old who arrived from Swansea City for £12 million last summer has interest from his former manager Russell Martin who is now the new Southampton boss.
West Ham fans might be reluctant to see the midfielder leave given the circumstances, and especially as he performed well in their run to win last season’s UEFA Europa Conference League.
