Bayern Munich have been urged to walk away completely from their interest in Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha, who is now simply too expensive to justify.
That’s at least according to Didi Hamann, who believes Bayern couldn’t pay the prices Fulham would now ask for their star man.
As you’ll be aware, Palhinha was on the verge of joining Bayern in the summer before the deal collapsed at the last minute as Fulham refused to sanction it on deadline day after failing to secure a replacement.
The belief had been that Bayern would reignite their interest in the January transfer window but Palhinha’s decision to sing a new deal at Craven Cottage after the window closed threw that into doubt.
There have been numerous reports in Germany since that point hinting that Bayern have now changed their mind on the player.
Hamann backs up that stance today, insisting that there is no way the German champions should be paying what would be a huge sum for the Portuguese star.
“Bayern have been playing the same football for six months, with little control and stability, and nothing has changed,” he said.
“When I recognize the problem, I have to try to fix it with the players I have available. Tuchel wanted to bring in Palhinha in the summer, that didn’t work out, and he probably doesn’t cost 60 million now, but 80 or 90.
“You can’t pay that for a player like that and it’s uncertain whether the Munich team will find another defensive midfielder in the winter, which gives them the necessary defensive stability.
“I don’t know whether Tuchel wants to survive without a six, but if you don’t pay attention, keep playing football like this, lose important games and have self-doubts, you can get into huge problems in the league in the winter.”
