Joao Palhinha would tick a lot of boxes for Liverpool if they could convince Fulham to sell their Portugal international liverpool and Jurgen Klopp were forced to alter their summer transfer plans after Fabinho’s unexpected exit.
After captain Jordan Henderson took up the offer to sign for Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq, Fabinho then joined his Reds midfield partner in the Saudi Pro League after agreeing to move to Al Ittihad for £40m.
Given Henderson’s transfer also brought in £12m, Liverpool’s transfer kitty has been boosted significantly. However, the Reds have so far been having trouble spending it.
They agreed a £111m British transfer record fee with Brighton & Hove Albion for Moises Caicedo. However, he decided to move to Chelsea, who are now also seemingly set to follow their £115m capture of Caicedo with a £55m deal for Southampton’s Romeo Lavia, who was also a key target for the Liverpool.
It means, going into the second game of the Premier League season, Klopp remains without a replacement for Fabinho, whose arrival, along with a number of key additions to the German’s ranks across 2018 and 2019, was a catalyst in transitioning Liverpool from challengers to serial title winners.
Ready-made is what the Reds need as of now. And this is why there is no option more interesting than the Fulham pivot Joao Palhinha.
Premier League experience – tick. Internationally capped – yes. Following on, the stats, via Fbref.com, speak for themselves.
Since his arrival in England last summer from boyhood club Sporting Lisbon, Palhinha was an integral part in a successful campaign that saw the Cottagers avoid top-flight relegation for the first time since the 2012-13 season. Playing on average 34.5 of the 38 league matches last year, this is the first attractive aspect of Palhinha’s game. In comparison, Fabinho only completed 29.7.
Additionally, the Portugal international has demonstrated he has the credentials required to effectively soak up play and start attacks in the same vein as his potential predecessor.
From the defensive standpoint, the Fulham man virtually doubled Fabinho’s tackles-per-90, averaging 4.26 per game as opposed to 2.19. Additionally, these were completed at a higher amount across all areas of the field. Fabinho’s 2022-23 season total of tackles in the defensive third was 18, in the middle third 40 and finally the attacking third only seven. Palhinha’s totals stand at 58 for the defensive third, 65 in the middle and lastly 24 in the attacking third.
Moving onto attacking credentials, there are suggestions that Palhinha could handle a level in tempo to a side that appreciates the counter-attacking aspect of the game. As a starting point, he took on average 20.7 less touches per game than Fabinho, a critical aspect of a midfielder that seeks to get his team-mates on the front foot.
Similarly, there may be room for improvement in order to equal – if not better – Fabinho’s pass success rate of 88.3%. But Palhinha’s 82.5% offers a promising foundation to build upon.
Finally, Palhinha recorded three Premier League goals throughout 2022-23, with Fabinho unfortunately failing to find the net even once.
At 28 – one year younger than Fabinho – would Liverpool purchase a player that may need replacing just a few years down the line?
Ultimately, this is the conundrum the Reds find themselves in, with no ideal candidate seemingly in the ideal age bracket now that Caicedo has gone to Chelsea.
If Palhinha could be prised away from the capital for a relatively low-risk fee – Fulham are said to want £60m – and then partnered alongside a longer-term replacement and understudy, like Fluminense’s Andre Trindade, then this could well be a deal worth trying to pull off, and could well help forget about the memory of missing out on Caicedo and Lavia.