Palhinha returns to Bayern squad – Sporting move collapses for now

Just at the end of May, Palhinha had stressed that he wanted to stay at the Spurs after his loan ended. When asked whether he could imagine staying, he answered: "Who wouldn't want to play for Tottenham and stay here? It's like a marriage," he said.

Instead, the player, born on 9 July 1995, is now back in the FC Bayern Munich squad. His contract in Munich runs until 30 June 2028 and includes annual salary of around 8.5 million euros. The market value of the defensive midfielder is estimated at 15 million euros.

Return to Sporting unlikely

A move back to Sporting CP, where Palhinha debuted with the reserve team in 2014 and made 95 appearances for the senior side, was considered a likely option on Friday. Following the player's social media post, "Sky Sports UK" reporter Lyall Thomas reported that a move to the Portuguese capital was now expected.

According to Florian Plettenberg, a reporter for "Sky", such a transfer is failing because Bayern's asking price is too high. Sporting have already signed four central midfielders for a total of just under 50 million euros: Issa Doumbia (22) from Venezia, Sergi Altimira (24) from Real Betis, Silas Andersen (22) from BK Häcken, and Pedro Lima (23) from Avs FS. Rodrigo Zalazar, signed for 30 million euros, is also part of the extended squad.

Past at FC Bayern

Palhinha was the desired signing of then-Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel in the summer of 2023, but a move fell through on the final day of the transfer window. Around a year later, Munich brought in the player for a reported 51 million euros. Under Tuchel's successor Vincent Kompany, Palhinha was most recently only a squad player.

According to current data, Sporting are listed with a total squad value of 1.05 billion euros and coach Rui Borges, with the latest signing being Sergi Altimira. Tottenham Hotspur, under coach Roberto De Zerbi, have a squad value of 515.50 million euros, with the latest transfer being Mateus Fernandes. FC Bayern, under Vincent Kompany, meanwhile have 32 players in their squad, with Nathaniel Brown the most recent signing.

What comes next for Palhinha in Munich remains unclear. Should Bayern not lower their asking price and Sporting not scale back their central midfield transfer activity, the 30-year-old is likely to stay in Munich for now – and hope for playing time under Kompany.