Liverpool must pay £90M to complete deal for excellent midfielder

Yesterday, I wrote an article explaining why I believe Joao Palhinha would be the perfect replacement for Fabinho should he join Al-Ittihad.

Since then, Liverpol have received a £40M bid from the Saudi Arabian outfit and the Brazilian is now closer to leaving Anfield than ever.

However, despite Palhinha's obvious suitability to the system that Jurgen Klopp employs, signing him will be a lot more difficult than I envisaged.

According to the Athletic, West Ham have had a £45M bid rejected for the Portuguese enforcer and it would appear that Declan Rice's move to Arsenal has inflated the market for defensive midfielders.

The Englishman narrowly misses out to Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez as the most expensive signing in Premier League history after the Gunners paid £105M to convince West Ham to part ways with the 24-year-old.

How much would Joao Palhinha cost Liverpool?

Fulham are ready to demand a whopping £90M for Palhinha which will likely pause any Liverpool interest in signing him this summer which is a real shame.

As I discussed yesterday, the former Sporting Lisbon star boasts some of the most elite stats for a holding midfielder and while his aggressive defending may appeal to Klopp, his price tag will be a huge turnoff for owners FSG.

While Fabinho and Jordan Henderson have been given permission to leave the club this season, Liverpool are placing themselves in a precarious position.

Coming into this summer transfer window, the Reds were already short on midfielders.

They have already recruited two extremely talented players in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai but they may soon be back to square one should Henderson and Fabinho leave.

What are Liverpool's priorities this summer?

Interest remains in signing Romeo Lavia but the midfielder is still only 19. He's extremely talented but has just one year of senior football under his belt and was relegated with Southampton.

Of course, that's not down to his performances solely, it's ludicrous to expect the Belgian to come into Liverpool's starting XI and guide the Reds back into a Premier League title challenge.

Henderson is certainly near the end of his career at the highest level and Fabinho has been regressing for the las year or so. Yet, selling both of them may be a decision that is soon looked back on as a mistake.

It all comes down to how aggressively they are replaced. Liverpool cannot afford to waste another transfer window while the likes of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Allisson Becker are at the height of their powers.

FSG need to act assertively to back Liverpool in the transfer market.