Bayern Munich’s ongoing quest to offload João Palhinha- as well as Sacha Boey and Bryan Zaragoza- reportedly got a boost via interest from Aston Villa. The Villans, who Bayern beat 2-1 in a recent friendly, have lost star midfielders Amadou Onana to an anterior cruciate ligament rupture and Youri Tielemans to Manchester United. Despite the recent addition of the impressive João Gomes, they need more personnel and Palhinha is a concrete target of theirs.
That last tidbit of news is something Damián
Vidagany, Aston Villa’s sporting director, confirmed to Bild reporter Nico Linner.
“We need a midfielder because Amadou Onana will be out for the entire season, and João Palhinha is a very good player who would fit our plans,” Vidagany stated (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “We are in talks, but there’s currently no agreement. If anything does happen, it will always be on the basis of the big respect we have for FC Bayern. Our clubs are friends, and our relationship with Max Eberl, Christoph Freund and all the other people in charge is excellent. That is why I cannot and do not want to comment on any further details.”
BFW Analysis
Of course, the problem is immediately apparent. Aston Villa wish to obtain a one year stopgap until Onana returns from his unfortunate injury, while Bayern wish to offload Palhinha permanently. How the two clubs reconcile that issue remains to be seen.
Perhaps the Bavarians will be willing to acquiesce and settle for a loan deal after all. The issue with Palhinha is that the club likely amortized the €51 million transfer fee and is still paying it to this day. If any potential loan deal can cover this year’s amortization as well as the player’s wages, perhaps the Bavarians would be willing to accept such a deal.
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- New, improved notifications system!
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
