Man United interested in signing Premier League star but club have rejected £30m and want double that

Manchester United reportedly have an interest in the transfer of Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha, who has also been the subject of a £30million bid from Bayern Munich.

The Portugal international has starred for Fulham in recent times and a move to a bigger club has long seemed inevitable, with Man Utd now seemingly among his suitors, according to Sky Sports journalist Kaveh Solhekol.

See below for details as Solhekol takes to X, formerly Twitter, to explain the current situation, with Fulham asking for as much as £60m for the player, which is double what they’ve already turned down from Bayern, while it’s not yet clear if United are able to make their interest more concrete…

Fulham value Joao Palhinha at double £30m bid they have rejected from Bayern Munich. Barcelona and Man United also interested but Barcelona have financial issues and there’s uncertainty surrounding managerial situation at United. No release clause in Palhinha’s contract.

— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) June 10, 2024

Man Utd will surely need to resolve their manager situation before being able to focus their efforts onto signings like this, so that probably means they’re at a disadvantage right now.

Still, the Red Devils could certainly do with strengthening in the middle of the park, with Palhinha making sense as an upgrade on the ageing Casemiro, as well as on unconvincing loan signing Sofyan Amrabat.

Palhinha transfer to Bayern still looks highly likely, according to Fabrizio Romano

Speaking to CaughtOffside for his Daily Briefing column earlier today, Fabrizio Romano suggested Bayern were the major favourites to complete the Palhinha signing, and possibly for a lot less than Solhekol is claiming above.

“We can now say it looks like the Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich deal is going to happen. Bayern have agreed personal terms with Palhinha – the contract is agreed, the salary is agreed, and Palhinha is super excited about the possibility to join Bayern,” Romano said.

“The initial Bayern proposal to Fulham was €35m plus add-ons, which Fulham rejected, but early next week the two clubs will talk again and the expectation is to reach an agreement for a fee of around €40-45m.

“Bayern will push again, but for now they have an agreement with Palhinha, and he expects Fulham to help him make this transfer to Bayern happen.”