At this stage, it’s probably the right time to stop questioning whether moving from the Portuguese top-flight to the Premier League is a step to steep for those new arrivals to contend with.
Who can forget the way Bruno Fernandes immediately grabbed Manchester United by their collar and dragged Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side into the Champions League spots? Or how Ruben Dias won the Premier League’s Player of the Year award in his debut season at the Etihad Stadium?
And, if you were to rank the best pound-for-pound signings of 2022/23, Fulham’s £17 million acquisition of former Sporting Lisbon powerhouse Joao Palhinha would rank somewhere near the top.
No player in England’s top flight averages more than Palhinha’s 4.2 tackles per game (WhoScored). There has been the odd long-range wondergoal too. Improve his passing and you could make a case for Palhinha being one of the most complete midfielders around.
In fact, his statistics at Craven Cottage are actually superior to those he posted during his final season in the Portuguese capital.
Could the new Joao Palhinha be heading to the Premier League?
“I think a lot of big clubs will be looking at him. He is reaching his potential. He’s a very, very good player,” former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy tells talkSPORT; Palhinha scoring a screamer during Fulham’s FA Cup triumph over Leeds United.
“If Fulham get offered £50 million for him, they’re going to take that. He is, at the peak of his powers, as good as anyone. I mean, what a brilliant goal.”
Considering that Manuel Ugarte was the man to step into Palhinha’s shoes at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, comparisons between the two are to be expected. And the Uruguayan stacks up very well; his average of 3.7 tackles per game domestically more than Palhinha produced during his final season at Sporting. Furthermore, Ugarte boasts the best ball-winning numbers anywhere in the Champions League this season. A remarkable 4.8 per game. All the while proving himself to be a very reliable distributor as well as a fierce destroyer.
He is Sporting’s very own ‘Man of Steel’.
But with Ugarte rejecting a new contract (Record) – and with Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Wolves and more all fluttering their eyelashes in his direction – the 6ft Uruguayan may soon be following in Palhinha’s footsteps once again. The summer window is, after all, only a few months away.
Can Ugarte maintain those remarkable numbers in a more competitive, high-profile division? Well, the success of Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Dias and, of course, Joao Palhinha have certainly set a very promising precedent.
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