Marco Silva admits Fulham success will lead to interest amid Joao Palhinha links

Joao Palhinha has been linked with a move away from Fulham (Mike Egerton/PA)

Marco Silva admitted it is inevitable that bigger clubs will be interested in Fulham’s players in the wake of the club’s success last season, but would not be drawn on reports Joao Palhinha is set to join Bayern Munich.

Palhinha, who scored a late equaliser in last weekend’s draw against Arsenal, trained with the team on Thursday morning ahead of their trip to face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Reports in Germany have claimed a deal has been agreed in principal between the player and the Bundesliga champions, but the west London club would not confirm the midfielder is about to be sold ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline.

Should Palhinha move to Germany, it would leave limited time to find a replacement for a player who was critical to the side’s successful first season back in the Premier League during the previous campaign.

He featured 35 times in the league as Fulham finished 10th and almost matched their top-flight points record.

Silva said the club had players in mind as possible replacements but would not commit to mentioning names, nor would he shed light on Palhinha’s future, beyond hinting that ultimately it would be decision made jointly from a financial and technical perspective.

“I won’t make any comments about the situation of Joao, there is nothing new to say to you,” he said.

Palhinha is a reported target for Bayern Munich (John Walton/PA)

“It’s the business part of the football club; the people that are taking care of that are doing their job, I’m doing my job as well to work for the football club. Anything can happen in the next 36 hours.

“We made a fantastic season. Of course, you receive some offers for