Liverpool told bottom-half Prem midfielder holds key to title success as £70m star is ‘that good’
Former Premier League midfielder Owen Hargreaves has told Liverpool that they’ll win the league if they can sign Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha.
The Reds are in much better shape now than they were at this point last season. After 10 league games, they’re fourth in the table, within three points of top spot – at the same point last season, they’d just dropped down to eighth.
Some of the improvement can be put down to new signings. Midfield pair Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister have been fantastic additions after the loss of a few midfielders in the summer.
However, Liverpool didn’t recruit a genuine defensive-midfielder in that window. Hargreaves believes that’s the final piece of the puzzle for Jurgen Klopp’s side and that one man could push them towards the title.
“I think they are missing one player and that’s a defensive-midfield player,” he told Premier League Productions.
“I think if Palhinha plays for Liverpool, then they can win the league. He is that good.”
The Reds have been linked with Palhinha of late, and it’s not difficult to see why they’re tracking him. The Fulham midfielder made almost 50 more tackles than the person with the next most in the Premier League last season.
This term, he’s leading the league in that metric again, by almost 10 tackles. Liverpool already have a host of attacking talents, both in the forward line and in midfield, and Palhinha could be the perfect foil for those talents.
A recent report suggested any interested side would have to splash out £70million to secure the Portuguese’s services. If the Premier League title is the reward, paying that seems a no-brainer for the Reds.
With that being said, though, after a move to Bayern Munich for Palhinha fell through in the summer, the German side are still tracking him, and might make another attempt to snare him.
If that happens, Liverpool’s pursuit could be a more difficult one than they might have imagined.
