After allowing Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to complete their Saudi Pro League moves without having replacements in place, Liverpool spent the past month scrambling to get deals done for their top targets at prices that match their valuation.
Bayern Munich, faced with a want-away player in Ryan Gravenberch who wants to sign for Liverpool and whom Liverpool see as an ideal target to belatedly take Henderson’s place in the squad, may not be willing to make a similar gamble as the Reds did.
Though it appears the framework for a €30M transfer of Gravenberch is in place, the most recent reports out of Germany claim that the only thing currently holding it up is that Bayern want to complete the signing of Fulham’s João Palhinha first.
While Gravenberch is an eight with no experience operating as a single-pivot and questions around his engine, those are the technically limited Palhinha’s strongest attributes as a top class destroyer who can at times be an outright liability on the ball.
With the transfer window set to slam shut on Friday, Fullham too are worried about selling a player without getting a suitable replacement in, and so Palhinha’s Bayern move in turn is said to be waiting on Fulham’s ability to get their own deal done.
Certainly the looming spectre of deadline day adds urgency for Bayern and Fulham, but if deals can’t be done to bring in a midfielder—and ideally a defender—before the end of the window there will be questions asked about Liverpool’s recruitment.
