The transfer of Portuguese international João Palhinha (29) from FC Fulham to FC Bayern Munich is perfect. As the German football record champions announced, the defensive midfielder signed a contract until the summer of 2028. The Munich team will reportedly pay the English first division club a fixed transfer fee of 46 million euros, which may increase due to bonus costs. There was no official information about this.
“João Palhinha was already very popular at FC Bayern last summer – and rightly so! It was important that the contact was not broken. João really wanted to go to FC Bayern and we need players like that. It’s an important building block for our future,” said athletic director Max Eberl. “Especially at the European Championships, he showed his strengths again on a big stage and brings with him a lot of experience as he has already played in the European Championships and the World Cup and has played around 300 competitive games in Portuguese and English leagues. It will give us more stability in the middle.”
Palhinha was already a target for FC Bayern last summer. The coach of Munich at the time, Thomas Tuchel, wanted a defense-oriented midfielder in particular. The commitment of the 30-time international, who moved to England in 2022, fell through on the final day of the transfer window as the London club did not release him without a replacement.
Kompany’s “Own It”.
“We regretted that,” Bayern club president Herbert Hainer admitted in retrospect. Palhinha then extended his contract with the English first division club until the summer of 2028. Bayern’s new coach Vincent Kompany now gets the “Holding Six” he wanted to replace Tuchel. In the future, Palhinha will wear the number 16 shirt, worn by Jens Jeremies and Dietmar Hamann before him, among others.
“This is one of the happiest days of my life. “I’m now playing for one of the best clubs in Europe, it’s a dream for me and I’m very proud of that,” explained Palhinha. “I’m looking forward to the atmosphere and the fans in the Allianz Arena. I want to celebrate success with FC Bayern and win titles – I will give everything for that.”