Should Fulham accept the £60m

[Colton F.C.]

Everyone is expecting us to push on next season especially those paying £3,000 for the privilege.  Palhinha is our main man and a large part of the reason we are where we are.  It would be unthinkable that we would be taking to the field next season without his presence.  As others have said, Joao is a lot more valuable to Fulham than those elite clubs who dominate possession.

[General]

Part of me was wondering if our drop off and his in form recently could be due, in part, to his head being turned by someone or something that wasn't public in January. He's definitely not been as tenacious or at it since January ended.

That being said, I don't know if the Khan's have ever sold our best players and have put a lot of effort into keeping them at the club when they have considered leaving (Mitro for instance).

The only 'key' players that we've sold have been players that have come through our academy - Sessegnon and Carvalho.

Others we've sold have had areas of weakness or able deputies and replacements - e.g. Kalas, Fredericks and Targett.

Palhinha is the key reason we've done so well this season, we're chalk and cheese without him.

We need to keep him and build a competitive team around him, not sell him. Otherwise what's the point in being a competitive sports team.

I think he enjoys being at the club and with the portugese speaking contingent in Pereira, Vinicius and Willian (though we'd need to tie Willian down to an extended contract).

I want to see us be competitive and push on, and with the club trying to charge £3k for a season ticket (which is absurd), they better bloody keep him and build a decent squad.

With Marco and the core we've got now, we really have a chance to build next season in the summer with another good window.

£60m for a player who in DM can keep you in the league themselves through their ability is no-way near enough. He's £100m plus easily in terms of his contract and value to us and our position in the premier league.

[alfie]

If we sell him we will get relegated next season. It's that simple.

Well Mr B it's not really that simple is it?, we could sell him and get a better player, we could keep him and next season he doesn't perform we could get relegated, there absolutely no guarantees on anything. To say we will be relegated, you could just as easily say we will win the league with him. There are a million and one scenario's that could occur.

[St Eve]

We should not sell. The team should be build around him

[itombomb]

Based on the likes of Cottage Analytica's analysis we have absolutely no need to sell him, and should actually have a lot of money we can spend next year to improve the squad around him.

He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would down tools and force a move either, but that is the only reason I would consider selling, and it would still be a big risk. You'd immediately have to spend that money on a couple of players to try and replace his output.

[Somerset Fulham]

I would be staggered if we got anywhere near 40 mil for the guy.

[Rupert]

£80 million, they pay his wages and we get him back on loan for a season, no make that 2 seasons. Go on, snap our hand off!

[FFC1987]

I would be staggered if we got anywhere near 40 mil for the guy.

Why? When you factor in how chelsea have basically ruined the valuation market, we'd be silly to accept anything lower than £80m, although, who pays that is another question. He's certainly worth in market value much, much more than £40m.

[MayoDomo]

It pains me to say but I think the answer is yes. We have an aging squad but 60M represents about 1/5 of the market value of our team according to transfrmarket. (Not a perfect site but the best I know of.)

I think we need to start thinking about 3+ years from now when many of our better players have aged or are aging out of the game. The proceeds should be converted to some experienced PL players and younger players that can develop. (We will certainly need to replace Palinha in some form.)

Will this make it more difficult to stay in the league in the short term? Absolutely. But I think it's a bullet we need to take given the age profile of the squad.

[Thamesbank]

Gawd no, we need to build not sell.

[WindyCity]

No.  This player is key, and must be retained.  If he is looking for more money, which is somewhat reasonable, then FFC needs to re-negotiate his deal and keep him happy.  Too valuable a player to let him go.

[Bassey the warrior]

I would be staggered if we got anywhere near 40 mil for the guy.

I'm interested to hear your reasoning, is it because of his age? His skillset - i.e. midfield destroyer rather than creator? Or simply because it's little old Fulham?

In any case we are under absolutely no obligation to sell.

[Somerset Fulham]

Well I don't think that a big club actually needs to offer that much for him to want to go. He's 28 (I think) he is absolutely outstanding for us but is perhaps a little limited when taking it up a level, and I do think that Fulham's breaking point will be much lower than we are hoping for.

[LC]

I don't think it is a straight forward question. Firstly, let's look at the player, probably a top 3 defensive midfielder in the league, arguably the best so far this season. On the other hand, he'll be 28 years old in the summer and this will likely be the only chance we'll have to sell him or any other player we have for £60m +. In terms of the £60m price tag, Casemiro went to United for £60m at 30 years old. If you look at his CV, I think there is zero chance anyone offers £60m for Palhinha after this summer (the summer window after this one he'll be 29 years old), so that's something to consider. 

So the question is, will he be one of those players who can play at this level well into his 30s.. I think that's incredibly hard to answer. If management think he can, then he should stay, if management think he can't then I would sell him and invest in younger players.

For example, if we sold him for £60m and we're able to bring in, let's say Conor Gallagher from Chelsea and Scott McTominay from Man United, then I would be very tempted. Now is that realistic, I don't know. The point is, who can we attract with the funds raised- will we improve the team if he leaves.

The next thing to consider is FFP now we're essentially guaranteed to stay up. How are we looking from a FFP position? Do we have funds to spend in the summer? If so how much? More than £40m, £50m, or £70m? The answer to these questions are very important when considering any bid for Palhinha. If we are in a strong FFP position then he should definitely stay.

From my point of view, if we receive a £60m + bid for him then we should give it some serious consideration. In an ideal world I would personally like to see him stay and spend big on the squad to compete for the top 7 spot.

[btffc]

I would obviously love to keep him, but if we receive a 60m bid and Palhinha really pushes for it then I think we have to seriously consider it provided there is a solid replacement lined up.

[WolverineFFC]

Man United would be the only team I could see coming in at the 60 million for him and he seems redundant to Casemiro, so I am not that sure they would.

Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham are all going to be lucky to be in Europe at all next season. Why would he move to them at this point anyways? Plus I doubt any of them will be spending 60 million on a 27/28 yr old DM with no Champions League to fund it.

[perry geyton]

Pretty much irreplaceable but he will go if a big club comes knocking I'm sorry to say..
no less then 80 million and if Liverpool want him no less then a 100 Mil.

[Jules]

for Joao Palhinha....as rumoured in today's press.... If we're to sell him, he's on a very long contract - I'd want more

No chance. Nothing less than £80m should be considered. He is worth that at least to us.

[bobbo]

I just hope not . Him and the rest of the first choice on the sheet players are the reason we've done so well this year .

[Karlos]

£80m plus we'd be silly to say no, club is always bigger than one player.


If we can keep him for another season and still then get £80m plus that's got to be the best outcome