João Palhinha’s future at FC Bayern Munich appears to be over, with the club even removing the defensive midfielder from their official squad list. However, despite his situation in Germany, there still seems to be a strong market for Palhinha within the Premier League.
Beyond Aston Villa, Newcastle United has reportedly now set its sights on the 31-year-old Portuguese international. According to a recent report, Palhinha is considered a primary alternative for the Magpies should the transfer of Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg from Olympique de Marseille ultimately fall through.
Newcastle could soon entrust its defensive midfield responsibilities to either former Bayern player Höjbjerg or Palhinha. Palhinha, a player highly sought after by former Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel, initially joined Munich in 2025. This move came a year after his transfer from Fulham FC dramatically collapsed at the last minute due to a veto from his then-club.
The Munich club had previously assured the Portuguese star they would continue their pursuit. Yet, by the time he eventually arrived in Munich for a fee of approximately 50 million euros, Tuchel had long since departed. His successor, Vincent Kompany, found little use for the purely defensive profile of the tackling specialist.
Last season, Palhinha enjoyed a successful loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur. However, a permanent transfer failed to materialize due to Bayern’s financial demands. Neither Tottenham nor Palhinha’s former clubs, Sporting and Benfica, were reportedly prepared to meet the asking price of 35 million euros.
Who is interested in João Palhinha?
After Aston Villa’s Sporting Director, Damian Vidagany, publicly confirmed interest in Palhinha on Friday, following Villa’s 2-1 friendly defeat to Munich in Hong Kong, Newcastle has now reportedly entered the race.
At Newcastle United, the coffers are certainly full after the departures of central midfielders Sandro Tonali (to Tottenham) and Bruno Guimaraes (to champions Arsenal), which collectively brought in 204.5 million euros in transfer fees. However, the squad of new German coach Matthias Jaissle is in urgent need of a defensive midfielder.
Getty ImagesWho could still reinforce Newcastle United’s midfield?
The top target for Newcastle remains Höjbjerg, who spent his youth career with Bayern Munich from 2012 to 2016 before moving on to Southampton, Tottenham, and eventually Marseille, playing in both the Premier League and France. However, if the Danish midfielder’s transfer were to fall through, Palhinha could quickly become a leading candidate, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Financially, a transfer should not be an issue for Newcastle, even if the theoretically wealthiest club in the world has adopted a more cautious spending approach recently.
