João Palhinha is back at Bayern Munich, for now. The Portuguese international ended his loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur without a permanent deal and, with no deal on the horizon this summer either, has begun the preseason with the Bavarians.
Palhinha started Bayern’s 15-0 friendly win against lower-division local side FC Rottach-Egern, scoring in the second half from one of his many long-distance efforts and also assisting an earlier goal. In addition, it is emerging that another Premier League club,
in addition to Aston Villa, is considering taking a run.
The report is attributed to Sport Witness and ESPN Brasil, as captured by @iMiaSanMia:
Newcastle United have two midfielders on their shortlist as potential replacement for Bruno Guimarães, who is heading towards joining Arsenal. One of those players is João Palhinha. Newcastle see him as a good replacement [Bruno Andrade/@ESPNBrasil via @Sport_Witness]
BFW Analysis
It is good news for Bayern that Palhinha, a top candidate for sale, is still getting interest from Premier League sides. However, there is a long way to go from rumored interest to concrete offer.
From this perspective, it would be somewhat surprising for the Magpies to actually land on Palhinha as the Guimarães replacement. While the Brazilian is a dynamo in central midfield — physical but also creative, able to be a foundation in possession and a logical fit for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side — Palhinha is more boxed in to his role as a defensive midfield destroyer.
Then again, NUFC is in disarray at the moment. Eddie Howe’s sudden departure — apparently related to dissatisfaction over Newcastle’s transfer policy — has thrown the direction of the side up in the air. That tumult may not be a good sign for the prospects of getting a deal done, though…and the last time Palhinha made a move amid a coaching change, from Thomas Tuchel to Vincent Kompany at Bayern, it left him in no man’s land on the squad.
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