Blinksportsnews247Joao Palhinha is a much talked about player in the January transfer window.
The Portuguese centre-forward has proven over the last 18 months that he should be playing for a top club and after a transfer to Bayern Munich fell through in the summer, the race for his signature is on in January.
Arsenal are reportedly interested in the Fulham star, but Ben Jacobs spoke to The Debrief and expressed some doubts about whether Arsenal will be able to complete the deal.
After spending over £200m in the summer, Arsenal are very restricted under FFP rules and according to Jacobs, Arsenal can only do this deal if they can agree a loan with an option to buy.
Palhinha can only join Arsenal as a loan player:
Jacobs told what he knows about the Fulham ace.
“Fulham want to fork out, in my opinion, an insane amount of money for Joao Palhinha. Close to £70-75 million. You can say that Arsenal’s interest is very genuine. If Arsenal had a dream deal, it would be Douglas Luiz, but if they manage to get Joao Palhinho, it is certainly admirable and they have vetted him accordingly. The only question is whether that is possible in January, because the price is so high. I don’t think he is Arsenal-oriented unless they can do what they did with David Rayo and get him on loan with an option or obligation to buy, but Fulham might not play,” Jacobs said.
There is no option:
Fulham will certainly not approve such a deal.
Palhinha has only just signed a new contract with Fulham, and if the Whites sell their most important player in January, they will want money to replace him and improve the squad elsewhere.
Letting Palhinha go out on loan would make no sense from Fulham’s point of view, especially as they will be able to find a buyer elsewhere if necessary.
If Arsenal can’t find the money, they won’t get Palhinha in January.
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