No longer wanted by Bayern Munich - João Palhinha now ready for move to Tottenham

31.07.2025 - 19:24 | source: The Athletic/Transfermarkt | Reading Time: 4 mins

In talks

No longer wanted by Bayern Munich - João Palhinha now ready for move to Tottenham

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After just one season, Bayern Munich midfielder João Palhinha could be on the verge of returning to London. Bayern Munich signed the Portuguese midfielder in a deal worth €51 million from Fulham last summer. To this day, it is one of the biggest signings in Bayern's history. But the 30-year-old defensive midfielder struggled for playing time under head coach Vincent Kompany and is now looking for a new club. According to a report by The Athletic, which Transfermarkt can confirm, Tottenham are now seriously interested in signing Palhinha this summer.

The main complication remains the structure of the deal. Bayern Munich director of sport Max Eberl would like to sell Palhinha to make room for additional transfers. “It's not an easy transfer window, especially given the injury situation with Jamal Musiala, Alphonso Davies, and Hiroki Itō,” Eberl said when asked about transfers during the introductory press conference of new signing Luis Díaz on Thursday. Eberl then added: “We're very happy with the squad.” That’s perhaps not the entire truth. Bayern need to add, but can’t do so before more players have been moved on.

On the list of potential departures are the likes of Serge Gnabry, Min-Jae Kim, Leon Goretzka, and Palhinha. While there have been rumors about Kim and Saudi Arabia, Goretzka and Gnabry seem to be unmovable at this stage. At least for Palhinha, there is now concrete interest in the form of Tottenham. But while Bayern would like to sell the player in a deal worth €25-30m, the London club is looking for a loan with an option to buy. While a loan isn’t entirely out of question for Bayern, the Rekordmeister would like that option to be an obligation. Palhinha, in the meantime, has spoken about his desire to carve out a place in the Bayern squad, but Tottenham’s Champions League qualification could now open the door for a move back to England.

Palhinha to Tottenham – Where did it go wrong at Bayern Munich?

Where did it go wrong for Palhinha at Bayern Munich? In the summer of 2023, Palhinha was the number one target of former Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel. Tuchel wanted a holding six for his squad and identified Palhinha as the perfect player for his system. Indeed, a deal with Fulham seemed to be all but done on deadline day on Sep.1, 2023. Palhinha was already at Bayern’s training ground at the Säbener Straße with his new jersey in hand to be announced when a deal fell through. Ultimately, Fulham couldn’t sign a replacement in time for the transfer window to shut in Germany.

Market Value J. Palhinha Defensive Midfield € 30.00 m

The midfielder then signed a new contract at Fulham, a deal that was likely to appease Palhinha short-term, as he lost out on a significant increase in wages. Reading between the lines, it appears that Bayern and Fulham had a deal in place for the following summer. Because 12 months after the failed deal, Palhinha did arrive in Munich after all. Times had changed; however, Tuchel was gone, replaced by Kompany. Struggling with injuries and not being a good fit for Kompany’s tactics, Palhinha managed just six Bundesliga starts and 17 games overall. Indeed, the 30-year-old played just 986 minutes across 25 games for Bayern last season in all competitions, mostly coming off the bench. With that in mind, Bayern would be more than happy to offload the Portuguese midfielder to be more flexible on the transfer market for the rest of the summer. This could now benefit Tottenham.

Stats J. Palhinha Defensive Midfield Bayern Munich Career stats –

All competitions Games 25 Goals 0 Assists 0

What could Palhinha add to Tottenham? Despite his issues at Bayern, Palhinha is still a marquee midfielder. In fact, it is fair to say that he was the victim of a manager change at the Rekordmeister. Going back to his last season in the Premier League for Fulham, Palhinha was considered one of the best no.6s in English football. In the season before his Bayern move, Palhinha topped the tackles won metric for the league and was joint third for interceptions. He has also scored two crucial equalisers away at Arsenal and Brighton early on in the campaign. After that game against the Seagulls, his boss Silva said, “His attitude, commitment, the way he lifts others around him—it is not easy to find in football. In moments when we lose the ball, his reaction is impressive.”

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