Wolverhampton Wanderers transfer target Joao Palhinha's move to Fulham is said to have stalled.

What's the word?

That is according to a report from reliable journalist Bruno Andrade who claims that Palhinha's move to Premier League rivals Fulham has been delayed because of close club contact Jorge Mendes.

Taking to his personal Twitter account, Andrade issued an update on the situation: "Business of €20m is stopped because Jorge Mendes received from Sporting last season the power of attorney to exclusively discuss the future of the midfielder in the English market, believing in an agreement with Wolverhampton.

"Who arranged the (forwarded) transfer of Palhinha to Fulham, however, was another agent: Hernan Reguera. The problem is that Jorge Mendes now charges €2m for being out of the current negotiation, as he had priority in intermediation.

"At first, Sporting is then responsible for paying the €2m to Jorge Mendes to unlock the sale of Palhinha to Fulham.

"There is currently no agreement between Palhinha and Wolves. Sporting believed back there that a negotiation could arise, so it handed over the power of attorney/authorization to Jorge Mendes."

Lage surely buzzing

It seems as though super-agent Mendes has once again flexed his muscle in the transfer market, holding up the transfer of Palhinha to league rivals Fulham and consequently creating a potential opening for Wolves to swoop in and hijack the deal.

Mendes looks as though he holds the cards at this moment in time, so a last-minute switch to Wolves is most certainly not impossible.

The 26-year-old would be a welcome addition to Lage's engine room, chipping in with an average of 3.04 tackles per game, and an elite average of 32.42 pressures per 90 surpassing that of Ruben Neves’ average of 2.45 tackles and 18.95 pressures per 90.

Considering he could depart this summer, those metrics would be incredibly useful in the midfield at Molineux.

Mendes has carved open a last-ditch chance for Wolves to seal a deal for the Sporting CP midfielder and they must act pronto. Should they get a move over the line, it would no doubt leave the manager a very happy man.

AND in other news: Lage given green light for £15m Wolves target who "will explode", he’s Ruben Dias 2.0