The star West Ham want to replace Declan Rice did something that was truly unrivalled across all of Europe last season.
With the summer transfer window opening this week and Declan Rice set to be sold, West Ham attentions are turning to his replacements.
The Hammers are looking to bank around £100m for Rice. And focus is already turning to specific targets West Ham want to replace their beloved captain with.
As reported over the weekend, James Ward-Prowse, Harvey Barnes and Ajax defensive midfield ace Edson Alvarez are targets for West Ham.
Star West Ham want to replace Declan Rice did something that was truly unrivalled across all of Europe last season
But there have also been strong links to Portuguese star Joao Palhinha at Fulham too.
According to the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg, the West Ham board are set to back David Moyes by pushing to sign Palhinha from Fulham.
The Cottaghers reportedly want anything between £40-50m for their star man, who seriously caught the eye on Fulham’s return to the top flight last season.
To some that may seem a touch steep. But Palhinha has certainly put up the numbers to back it up.
In fact the star West Ham want to replace Rice did something that was truly unrivalled across all of Europe last season.
With speculation rife over an imminent bid from West Ham for the midfielder, football data experts WhoScored took a look at his key numbers.
And they are quite simply unmatched.
Palhinha made more tackles than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues last season.
Palhinha completed 147 successful tackles for Fulham last term. That was not only the most in the Premier League. It was more than any other player in Europe’s TOP FIVE leagues.
“Joao Palhinha made more tackles (147) than any other player in Europe’s top 5 leagues last season,” WhoScored posted on Twitter.
There had been hopes West Ham might be able to get a deal across the table to Palhinha whether Fulham liked it or not.
Because talkSPORT claimed the Portuguese had a release clause in his contract at Craven Cottage.
But that has been flatly denied by Fulham chief Tony Khan in a direct response to a report on West Ham’s interest.
“There is no release clause,” Khan said.
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