West Ham dealt major transfer blow by rival club’s owner

West Ham are seemingly planning for life without Declan Rice having been linked with Fulham’s Joao Paulinha, although that deal seems far from done according to owner Tony Khan.

The Hammers are set to have a huge amount of money burning a hole in their pocket soon when Rice ends up leaving for what could be north of £90 million, so they will likely have to use it wisely and recruit multiple players.

It has been reported that West Ham are interested in three midfielders in a bid to try and replace their skipper this summer with the likes of Paulinha, James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez of Ajax all on the club’s wanted list.

The latter is also the subject of interest from Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, while Ward-Prowse is said to have an eye-watering £50 million price tag on his head despite now being a Championship player.

Therefore, when it was reported that Paulinha had a release clause in his Fulham contract that he signed just last summer, it was no surprise to see the Hammers were already lurking around the Portuguese international.

There is no release clause. https://t.co/DIY8t1LQCR

— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) June 10, 2023

While they will likely still be interested in the player, it appears West Ham will have to pay top dollar for him as Fulham owner, Tony Khan, has confirmed on Twitter that Paulinha in fact doesn’t have any sort of release clause in his deal, contrary to TalkSPORT’s sources.

This news isn’t the end of the world for West Ham, it may just mean that their other targets could now take more of a priority if Paulinha isn’t going to be as cheap as they initially presumed, although, after his debut Premier League season, he could be worth the money.

Paulinha starred in a Fulham side that many had tipped to be relegated during pre-season with the Portuguese ace managing to average 1.49 Points Per Match last season – only bettered by Willian and Aleksander Mitrovic – as well as being clear in terms of tackles won across the entire league winning 26 more than the next closest player to him (FBRef).