Fabrizio Romano confirms Arsenal interest in Joao Palhinha as Fulham's asking price revealed

Arsenal are interested in signing Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha in January, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Palhinha was on the verge of joining Bayern Munich last summer, only for the move to fall through in the final hours of transfer deadline day.

The Bundesliga side are still thought to be keen on bringing the Portugal international to the Allianz Arena, but they are expected to face competition from the Premier League.

One of those clubs are Arsenal, according to transfer expert Romano, who has revealed how much the Gunners may need to pay to land the 29-year-old's signature.

“What I can confirm about Palhinha, this was around the media in recent days, is that there are also English clubs interested in Palhinha,” he told Kick.

“One of those clubs is Arsenal. It is true that Arsenal appreciate the player. There are some people at the club who consider Palhinha a very good player. It’s one of the players they discussed internally.

“There are two issues. The first one is the age, he’s not a super young player. I think next year he will be 29. Also, the price. Arsenal cannot spend that amount of money, something like £70-80 million on one more midfielder after spending the big amount of money they invested on Declan Rice.”

In an interview with German outlet Bild last month, Bayern Munich sporting director, Christoph Freund, confirmed that the club remain keen on signing Palhinha.

“Of course he is still on our radar,” said Freund (quotes via The Telegraph). “The club worked intensively with Palhinha in the summer. I was there for a bit on the last, strange day of the transfer window. But you can’t say yet what will happen.”

However, in a boost to Arsenal's transfer hopes, Palhinha told the Fulham Fix podcast that he believes the Premier League is the “best league in the world” and the division that is best suited to his style of play.

“I always looked to the Premier League as the best league for me as a player,” he said. “My characteristics, what I want to do on the pitch, for me it is the best league that I fit.”