Liverpool supporters will be fully aware that this summer is set to be a busy one when it comes to transfers of midfielders for our squad and one pundit has shared his opinion on a Premier League option who has been linked with a move to Merseyside, who could be an alternative to Jude Bellingham.
Speaking with midnite.com, Glen Johnson said: “Joao Palhinha has been looking great Fulham. He has been a key part of Fulham’s great form at the moment. A lot of the big clubs can benefit from such a technical player and from what I have seen so far, I like him. We may have this wrong but there is a reason why the big clubs are looking at him.
“Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice are obviously still favoured targets but you will be spending less than a quarter of the money for Palhinha than Rice or Bellingham. There is obviously more hype around them because they are English and super young. He could be a cheaper option if Bellingham doesn’t come”.
Joao Palhinha signed for Fulham last summer for just £20 million but if Jurgen Klopp wants to capture the signature of the midfielder, it’s likely to cost us around three times that amount – even though it’s just one year later (despite our former player’s claim to the contrary).
With our pursuit of the aforementioned Englishman likely to lead to a summer-long battle with other clubs and the potential for a huge transfer fee, it will be interesting to see whether the Portuguese star would be seen as an alternative or someone to be signed alongside the Borussia Dortmund teenager.
The funds that will be provided by FSG and any potential investors are not known at this time. So, we will just have to wait and see who our manager can bring into the club and how much he can spend – as we look to at least replace the possible departures of Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arthur Melo, James Milner and Bobby Firmino.
The truth is that nobody knows how the summer will end and how many transfers we will complete but it’s set to be a long and exciting summer of dealings.