Marco Silva believes Fulham will be able to hold on to Joao Palhinha ahead of next season.
The Portuguese midfielder was a revelation in his first season at Fulham last term. On deadline day last summer, he was given permission to fly to Bavaria ahead of an agreed £58million move to Bayern Munich, but it was contingent on the West London side signing an alternative in his position.
When they failed to do so, they pulled the plug on the deal and Palhinha has spent this season at Fulham, where he signed a bumper new deal in September and has again excelled. Bayern continue to track the 28-year-old, even if only from afar, and Silva has given his clearest indication yet that Palhinha will still be playing at Craven Cottage next term.
“He’s been a key player for us”, the Fulham manager said. “He was a player I really pushed to convince him to come to our football club.
“Last season he made a huge impact. This season, even after the situation in August and with all that noise, he was able to turn it around.
“Of course, he is a key player for us. He is going to play in the last game [at Luton on Sunday]. Let’s hope he has a good [Euro 2024] tournament. Next season he is going to be here.”
Meanwhile, Fulham have trigged the one-year extension in Kenny Tete’s contract but the player continues to stall over an entirely new deal on the table, amid fears of a lack of game time.
“We are pleased”, Silva said about keeping Tete until at least next summer. “It wasn’t the best season for him; completely different from the last one. Even if it wasn’t the best season [for him], we know Kenny really well and know what he’s capable of doing.
“What I want is for him to reach the level of last season — [when] he was one of our best players.”
Asked whether he is confident Tete will eventually agree a new deal, Silva said: “Let’s see. We have been talking about it.”
Fulham will be without the injured Sasa Lukic and the suspended Issa Diop for Sunday’s visit to Luton on the final day.
