Man Utd join Arsenal, Liverpool in six-club race for £40m Fulham midfielder
Manchester United have reportedly joined a six-club race for Fulham star Joao Palhinha.
Palhinha has made more tackles than any other Premier League player this season in a hugely impressive debut campaign for Fulham.
And his performances have caught the eye of the big boys, with The Sun claiming United have now joined Newcastle, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham in ‘monitoring’ the Portuguese star.
The report claims Fulham boss Marco Silva is ‘determined to resist bids’ for Palhinha, despite the club likely to receive over £40m for the 28-year-old, whom they paid £17m for in the summer.
When asked about the Portugal international and if he worries about transfer interest in him, Silva said: “He (Palhinha) is happy here.
“It is the same with players and managers. It is impossible to control what people write.
“Whether it is managers or players are linked with clubs, or if there is interest.
“To be honest, it is something that we don’t lose time thinking about these situations.
“With Joao it is the same.”
Palhinha is currently serving a two-match suspension at the moment due receiving 10 yellow cards and will therefore miss Fulham’s clash with Arsenal on Sunday.
But Silva was impressed with Sasa Lukic’s performance in the absence of Palhinha against Brentford, despite defeat.
“We don’t like to lose and it is something that is not usual for us, and in a derby it’s a little bit harder as well,” Silva said after the 3-2 loss.
“But that result cannot hide that they have been brilliant and one bad result shouldn’t allow people to write things about this football club that are unfair.
“We need to believe in ourselves. We know some moments they are going to have a lot of the play and we will have to do some things we don’t like especially playing at home. But we can handle that situation.
“Palhinha has been important to us, and a player like him, we don’t have the same profile of player to replace him.
“But the the player who played in his position (Lukic) was probably our best player on the pitch.
“Joao won’t be available so we just have to focus on the players that are.”
