West Ham set to make approach for ‘special’ £60m player as Declan Rice nears exit

West Ham are now set to make an approach to Fulham to sign star midfielder Joao Palhinha.

A report from West London Sport suggests the Portuguese international is still very much on West Ham’s radar.

David Moyes is preparing for the imminent exit of captain Declan Rice.

The club have done a fantastic job negotiating the best deal possible with Arsenal.

That should give West Ham plenty of cash to play with for the rest of the summer as they look to find a replacement.

James Ward-Prowse and Tijjani Reijnders have both been linked with a move to the London Stadium.

However, West Ham are preparing to make an approach for Joao Palhinha after a fantastic debut season in the Premier League.

Described as a ‘special’ player by Sporting manager Ruben Amorim, Palhinha was arguably Fulham’s best player last season.

He helped the newly promoted side achieve a remarkable top-ten finish with his incredible tackling and penchant for spectacular long-range goals.

The 28-year-old could be the ideal replacement for Rice as he heads to The Emirates.

West Ham prepare Palhinha approach

The report from West London Sport says the Hammers are now ‘expected’ to talk to Fulham about Palhinha.

He still has four years remaining on his current contract after being signed for £20m last summer.

Journalist Dean Jones has now suggested that Palhinha could be worth triple that figure, with £60m being suggested.

Fulham have remarkably put a £90m asking price on Palhinha, although it’s unlikely a deal would be agreed for that figure.

Although Palhinha and Rice play in the same position, they’re very different players.

One of Rice’s main strengths is his ability to alleviate pressure by carrying the ball upfield before playing a pass to a teammate.

Palhinha has a good range of passing, especially over long distances, but his dribbling is one of his weak points.

Instead, he would much prefer to offload the ball to a nearby teammate when under pressure.

West Ham making an approach for Palhinha makes sense to try and sound out exactly what Fulham want for him.

Whether he’s the perfect Rice replacement is yet to be seen, although it was always going to be difficult replacing a player with so much quality.