Fulham eyeing Joao Palhinha replacements amid continued Bayern Munich interest

Fulham are making plans to replace star midfielder Joao Palhinha in January with Bayern Munich ready to rekindle their interest, understands.

Palhinha almost joined Bayern for just shy of £60m in the summer and was in Munich on deadline ready to put pen-to-paper on a contract, but Fulham could not secure a replacement and so pulled the plug on the transfer.

Since the move collapsed, Palhinha has signed a new long-term deal at Craven Cottage that makes him the club's highest paid player and Fulham have denied reports that this contract includes a release clause.

Despite the immense disappointment of his failed move, the 28-year-old has since returned to action and is once again showing outstanding form.

understands that while Fulham are insisting they do not want to lose Palhinha, they are aware Bayern are still interested and the midfielder remains keen on such a move. For that reason, the Cottagers are looking at a number of midfielders who they could their attention to in 2024.

Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips remains a player that Fulham appreciate along with Tottenham's Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, while Fluminense's Andre is a player they have tried to sign on more than one occasion over the past year. Whether any of those players would be attainable in January remains to be seen, but Fulham again know they can't allow allow Palhinha to leave without some sort of replacement lined up.

Bayern's continued interest in Palhinha has been underlined by the club's sporting director Christoph Freund. Speaking to this week, he said: «Of course, he is still on our radar. The club worked intensively with Palhinha in the summer.

»I was there for the bit on the last, strange day of the transfer window, but you can't say yet what will