Report: Liverpool could be offered chance to sign ‘sensational’ powerhouse with echoes of Thiago | OneFootball

Liverpool could be offered the chance to sign a midfielder with whom they had been linked during his previous spell in the Premier League.

In December 2023, Christian Falk reported that the Reds were ‘concretely interested’ in Joao Palhinha, who was then at Fulham before ultimately joining Bayern Munich last summer.

However, fresh reports indicate that his time in Bavaria could be short-lived, with the prospect of a return to English football seemingly on the cards.

Palhinha could be offered to Liverpool

According to CaughtOffside, Liverpool are among several Premier League clubs to whom the 29-year-old could now be offered, with the player’s representatives believed to be exploring a potential route back into the division due to his struggles for regular game-time at the Allianz Arena.

Bayern could be prepared to let Palhinha depart in deference to securing a new contract for Leon Goretzka, and the ex-Fulham midfielder is understood to be prioritising a return to the English top flight.

(Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

Could Palhinha be a useful squad option for Liverpool?

If Liverpool were to snap up the Portugal international, it’d have strong echoes of their 2020 acquisition of Thiago Alcantara, who also arrived from the Munich giants at the same age that Palhinha is now (29) and played in a broadly similar position on the pitch.

The current Bayern powerhouse has proven that he can excel in the Premier League, with Rio Ferdinand previously hailing him as ‘sensational‘ and Robbie Savage saying in 2023 that he’d be a ‘fantastic fit‘ for the Reds.

Although the midfielder’s game-time in Bavaria has been limited, he’s still shown many of the qualities which earned him that glamour move. As per FBref, he ranks highly among positional peers in Europe’s five main leagues over the past year for tackles (top 2%), blocks (top 10%), aerial duels won (top 9%) and pass completion (top 8%).

Palhinha could certainly be a more than useful squad option for Liverpool, but with him turning 30 in July and having some injury issues this season, it’s difficult to see him coming in and displacing one of Ryan Gravenberch or Alexis Mac Allister.

If he’s offered to the Reds, the likelihood of a deal being done could depend on the transfer fee which’d be involved, and whether he’d be prepared to accept a role as a sporadic starter who could still be trusted to fill in for the aforementioned defensive midfield duo.