A report in O Jogo (via Sport Witness) has claimed that Wolverhampton Wanderers are monitoring Sporting CP midfielder Joao Palhinha.
The piece states that Wolves are ‘on top of the process,’ but it is CSKA Moscow who have made the only firm bid for the player so far.
It is claimed that the Russian side made an offer of €10m (£9.02m) but that Sporting want €15m (£13.53m).
There have been previous reports stating that Wolves were close to signing Palhinha and that they were going to pay up to €14m for him (£12.63m), but it seems as if Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are not that close if O Jogo’s report is to be believed.
Do you think Palhinha would be a good signing?
Yes, would be a good addition to the squad
No, we could do better
TIF Thoughts…
Palhinha was on loan with SC Braga from the summer of 2018 until earlier this summer and last season he made 36 appearances in all competitions in which he scored two goals and provided one assist and earned an average season rating of 7.03 from his 27 appearances in the league.
If you compare him with Wolves’ squad for the 2019/20 Premier League campaign, his rating of 7.03 would rank him in fourth-place and since he is considered to be very strong at tackling, according to WhoScored, that could work well in a Wolves side who are strong at stealing the ball from the opposition.
However, it appears as if Wolves are just monitoring the former Portugal U20 international at the moment.
Considering they are said to be closing in on Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who can play in central midfield, could they move on from Palhinha?
It remains to be seen but it looks as if Palhinha, who was thought to be close to moving to Molineux, is not actually that close and instead, is just on the club’s radar.