João Palhinha is not in Vincent Kompany’s plans this season for Bayern Munich despite the midfielder saying he was ready to stay and fight for his place after returning from a relatively solid loan spell with Tottenham. For a decent while, he was rumored with a potential move back to Portugal, but neither Sporting CP or Benfica are currently able to afford his wages and Aston Villa have been the club most recently linked with the Portuguese midfielder.
Unai Emery is an admirer of Palinha’s and is looking
to fill the spot left by Youri Tielemans, who left for Manchester United. Additionally, playmaker Morgan Rogers has left for Chelsea, which leaves another gap in Emery’s midfield and while they have already brought in João Gomes from Wolverhampton Wanderers, there’s still a void to be filled.
Villa could now face competitions from a Premier League rival for Palhinha, though. Per information from TalkSport (via @iMiaSanMia), Newcastle United have emerged as a potential suitor for the midfielder as new manager Matthias Jaissle really seems him as a good fit for his midfield. In addition to the departure of manager Eddie Howe, The Magpies have already lost Anthony Gordon to Barcelona, Sandro Tonali to Tottenham, and most recently, Bruno Guimarães to Arsenal. Jaissle now has find the right puzzle pieces in the remainder of the summer transfer window and he sees Palhinha as a viable option.
With the players Newcastle have lost, experience in the Premier League is exactly what he’s looking for — something Palhinha has plenty of with his tenures at Tottenham and Fulham. They’ll really have to fight Villa for his signature, though, as Bayern have the luxury of waiting to see who’ll be willing to pay a higher fee for him since they prefer a permanent sale over another loan option.
For Newcastle, they’ll want to avoid another situation similar to what happened with Johan Manzambi, who wound up going to Villa from SC Freiburg after all indications were pointing towards a move to Newcastle. A higher wage paid and the prospect of Champions League football from this season after the UEFA Supercup against Paris Saint-Germain was one of the huge selling points for Manzambi after he impressed with Switzerland at the World Cup, so Newcastle have the ball in their court when it comes to Palhinha.
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