One team rumored to be interested in Joao Palhinha is Liverpool, who could be moving next month.
It has been reported that Liverpool has had discussions with Joao Palhinha’s agent at Fulham in an attempt to sign him before Manchester United and Arsenal.
TEAMtalk claims that the Reds and their opponents are currently the two main teams vying for the Portuguese international.
This transfer issue has involved the Reds for a considerable amount of time. The 28-year-old was mentioned as Fabinho’s straight replacement in the summer, but other midfield targets were selected.
Ryan Gravenberch’s arrival on transfer deadline day from Bayern Munich then opened up a spot in Thomas Tuchel’s squad and they went after £60m-rated Palhinha, but a deal fell through. There have been suggestions since that he will depart Craven Cottage in January, though Munich as a destination looks less certain.
This latest piece of speculation sparks the rumour that Anfield chiefs, as well as their United and Arsenal counterparts, have all been in contact with the agent of the defensive midfielder. Fulham would still hope to earn at least £60m from his sale only 18 months after handing Sporting CP £20m.
When his Bayern move fell through Palhinha re-signed for the London club through to June 2028 – perhaps with a mechanism inserted to allow for a swift exit. He’s since made 11 appearances in the league.
In last week’s 4-3 thriller between Liverpool and Fulham at Anfield he boasted a pass completion rate of 82 percent, made five successful tackles and four interceptions.
If this is all indeed how things stand, it would be a statement to beat their rivals to such an experienced signing midway through the campaign and reinforce a position that has so far seen Jurgen Klopp shuffle his pack throughout the season.
Alexis Mac Allister has been played deeper and out of position more often than not since his arrival whilst Wataru Endo has also been rewarded with starts at an increasing rate recently as Klopp waits on the return of Stefan Bajcetic.
Klopp admits Liverpool ‘lucky’ to come away with win at Palace
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted his side were “lucky” to leave Selhurst Park with three points as his side earned a dramatic 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
Liverpool were second-best for much of the game and found themselves behind from a Jean-Phillipe Mateta penalty in the 57th minute. However, Palace forward Jordan Ayew was shown a second yellow card on 75 minutes and it sparked Liverpool into life, with Mohamed Salah scoring a minute later and substitute Harvey Elliott striking a superb winner in stoppage-time.
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“I am a very happy manager in this moment, and I know we were lucky as well. If you only win when you’re really good then you have no chance of being really successful, that’s just how it is,” Klopp said in his post-match news conference.
“Today was not a really good game from us. For 76 minutes, we put in a bad performance… Then they got a red card and we scored right after that — that’s all helpful. That is why I said we were lucky as well, definitely. But what we did from 76 [minutes] to 106 [minutes] was really good because as you know against 10 men you can have more problems than today. We really turned the game around; the subs were super influential.
“That’s actually the story so far of this season, the subs being impactful off the bench. If Harvey [Elliott] miss hits that ball it’s a draw, if Mo [Salah] is not there and the ball doesn’t get deflected then we lose the game. The last 15-20 minutes we deserved it, before that we deserved nothing.”
Salah’s goal on 76 minutes was his 200th for Liverpool and 150th in the Premier League, and Klopp said he awarded the forward a shirt in the dressing room after the game to commemorate the landmark
“It’s really impressive,” Klopp added. “We carried that shirt for two weeks with us, now finally we could give it to him. That was probably the best moment to score it to be 100% honest.
“It is an incredible number for a super special player, and I don’t know how often he has saved us for a goal he has scored at the right moment. It was a pretty loud reception in the dressing room when I gave him the shirt with the ‘200’ on the back.”
Liverpool, who have now earned 37 points from 16 Premier League games this season, will round off their Europa League group stage campaign against Union St.Gilloise on Thursday before hosting rivals Manchester United at Anfield next Sunday.
Mohamed Salah netted his 200th goal for Liverpool and Harvey Elliott scored a stoppage-time winner as Liverpool came from behind to beat 10-man Crystal Palace 2-1 and go top of the Premier League table after a rip-roaring clash on Saturday.
Liverpool top the standings on 37 points, one ahead of Arsenal who face Aston Villa later on Saturday, after a game that centred on the sending-off of Palace forward Jordan Ayew for a second yellow card in the 75th minute.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
Referee Andrew Madley was in the thick of things throughout the game, doling out eight yellow cards to the home side and denying them a penalty in the first half after being called to the sideline in a VAR review.
Palace eventually took the lead from a penalty in the 57th minute after another lengthy video review found that Jean-Philippe Mateta had been fouled by Liverpool centre-back Jarell Quansah, and Mateta stroked the ball home from the spot.
Liverpool hadn’t managed a single shot on target and were struggling to create chances until Ayew, who was first booked for not retreating from a free kick on the hour mark, was booked again and dismissed in the 75th minute after a harmless-looking challenge.
Salah struck just over one minute later, netting his 150th Premier League goal to cancel out Mateta’s penalty with Liverpool’s first shot on target in the game.
Knowing a win would send them to the top of the league, Liverpool continued to pour forward and their persistence paid off when substitute Elliott rattled in the winner in the first minute of second-half stoppage time to the delight of the travelling fans.
“It was really tough today, but of course when we win the game and I score a goal it is a great feeling,” a delighted Salah told broadcaster TNT. “I’m happy for the record, I’m also happy for the team to win the game.”
Missing Joël Matip, who is out with an ACL injury, and Alexis Mac Allister among others, Liverpool were able to call on goalkeeper Alisson, and he played superbly on his return from injury as the Reds presented their title credentials.
“We’re going in the right direction, (but) there’s a lot of the season left. We need to make sure we keep getting the three points and if we’re contenders at the end of the season then let’s go for it,” goal-scorer Elliott said.
“The aim is to win the Premier League,” he added.
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