West Ham United target Joao Palhinha could prove to be 'out-of-reach' due to Fulham's extremely high asking price for the Portugal international, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.
Is Joao Palhinha going to West Ham United?
According to Football Insider, Fulham have warned West Ham against making another offer for £50k-a-week Palhinha after the Hammers seen an opening bid of £45 million rejected for his services.
The report states that Palhinha is a 'top target' for West Ham following the sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal for a record fee for a British player. Last term, Palhinha was an excellent performer at Craven Cottage and made more tackles than anyone else in the Premier League with 148, racking up 48 more than second-placed Moises Caidedo of Brighton & Hove Albion.
In terms of appearances, the 28-year-old featured 40 times in all competitions for Fulham, registering four goals in total, as shown on Transfermarkt.
Last month, The Daily Mail claimed that Fulham set Palhinha's asking price at a whopping £90 million, which they had benchmarked against the fee West Ham eventually received for Rice; however, keen suitors are more likely to value the Portugal international at the £50 million mark.
Any big-money deal for Palhinha would represent a significant profit for Fulham this window, given that the west Londoners brought the box-to-box midfielder for £20 million last year from Sporting Lisbon, as per Sky Sports.
Other targets in the engine room have been mooted for West Ham over the last few weeks, including Ajax's Edson Alvarez, Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse and Manchester United star Scott McTominay.
Nevertheless, transfer insider Jones thinks that Palhinha may prove 'out-of-reach' for West Ham due to Fulham's asking price for his signature.
Jones told FFC: "So I understand he would be more into kind of that Palhinha type figure for West Ham. Now look, the other thing you've got to consider, Edson Alvarez, I think everyone can agree on is going to be a really good signing. Palhinha, I think he's going to prove out-of-reach. I mean, at the moment, for the other players that West Ham are targeting, Palhinha is going to be more expensive than all of them."
Who else could West Ham United sign this window?
West Ham United boss David Moyes is keen to get to work spending the money that the Irons have managed to accumulate for former club captain Rice and the Scot has identified several targets that could potentially pitch up at the London Stadium this window.
Manchester City youngster Carlos Borges is in 'advanced talks' to join West Ham for a fee in the region of £14 million and will provide some variation on the left flank, as per The Evening Standard.
Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher is another name of interest to West Ham; however, the Blues value the England international at a price exceeding £40 million and it is believed that he would need to drive any potential departure personally, according to Sky Sports.
FC Midtjylland talent Emiliano Martinez is attracting attention from both West Ham and Wolverhampton Wanderers and his agent, Luis Ferrer, is gauging side's that would be keen to offer his client an opportunity to move elsewhere, as per Football Insider.
