A Premier League vice-chairman has now confirmed that his side would be open to the right offer to sell one of their most important players at the end of the season.
Fulham chief Tony Khan has claimed to TalkSPORT that his side are prepared to listen to offers for midfielder Joao Palhinha, who Chelsea have been previously been linked with.
Palhinha has emerged as one of the better defensive midfielders in England right now, and it is clear why a number of elite sides are interested in bringing him in.
Bayern Munich were pushing hard to sign him before the season began, however Thomas Tuchel was unable to get his man over the line.
While he remained in West London, it doesn’t even seem as if that will be for too much longer. Khan has admitted that the Portugal man is up for sale in their eyes.
Palhinha bid could be accepted
He said: “Joao Palhinha is a phenomenal player and I think Joao’s acclimation to the Premier League has shown that he is an amazing player. He’s a huge part of the core of Fulham and we love having him here.
“I would want him as part of the team for as long as possible and we were very happy to extend his contract, but if an offer came along that would make sense for everyone I think that’s something you have to consider with every player at the right time.
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“We wanted to keep him and we have kept him, he’s staying with us and there’s a lot of demand for Palhinha. He was a great signing for us.
“I love working with Marco Silva and he’s someone I work really closely with over transfers and building the squad. I talk to him on a regular basis about these things, we made a great signing with Joao and there’s now a huge market, eyes have opened.
“He’s a great player for Fulham, we love having him and I want Joao to stay with us as long as possible.”
It remains to be seen if Chelsea would look to return to the table for the player currently situated just down the road.
They are currently in a strong position in the middle of the park, with Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Conor Gallagher proving their worth.
