Manchester City has just signed £50m influential superstar to replace Kelvin Phillips if he leaves to Juventus on Loan
Guardiola may earn a significant title boost by securing a £50 million transfer deal for a ‘influential’ player.
Manchester City’s title chances could be boosted significantly if they sign Joao Palhinha in January.
Pep Guardiola’s team has conceded 21 goals in 19 league games, which is higher than Liverpool (18) and Arsenal (20), and has only kept five clean sheets.
This demonstrates that leaking goals has been a problem for the Citizens this season, potentially denying them the opportunity to make history by winning four Premier League titles in a succession.
However, with the January transfer window being open, we believe that adding Palhinha might help City address this issue and increase their chances of winning the title.
Palhinha should join City this month.
It was stated last month that City are planning a £50 million move for the Fulham midfielder during the current winter transfer window.
Sporting CP sold the Portuguese international to the west London club on £20 million during the summer transfer window of 2022.
Since then, the 28-year-old has appeared in 60 games for his current club, scoring six goals.
Despite only being in England for 18 months, Palhinha has established himself as a formidable defensive unit.
For example, in the last Premier League season, the midfielder won more tackles (83) than any other player in the competition by a wide margin.
Palhinha has continued in the same manner, as he presently has the greatest combined total of tackles and interceptions (112) in the league.
This explains why Jamie Redknapp recently referred to Fulham’s star as a “influential” player.
It also demonstrates how valuable the midfielder may be for City in terms of preventing them from allowing as many goals as they have in the opening few months of the season.
With all of that in mind, we believe that signing Palhinha in January would be a wise move for City, especially if Kalvin Phillips decides to leave the Etihad Stadium this month.