Defensive midfielder Joao Palhinha emerged at the end of the 2025/26 Premier League season to be one of the absolute heroes for Tottenham Hotspur, playing lights out defense in the middle of the park and even scoring a crucial goal to save Spurs from relegation on Matchday 38 against Everton.
After being sidelined for months, Palhinha emerged back from the ashes of his early season form to become part of a trusted veteran circle of players for Roberto De Zerbi, and it was at that point the new manager made it clear that he absolutely wanted Palhinha to stick around permanently.
The thing, a month later, Palhinha is still without a new deal or agreement, as Spurs have yet to activate his 25-30 million euro option to buy clause in the loan deal with Bayern Munich. Things have gone quiet between Palhinha and Spurs, with Portuguese giants Sporting CP still lurking in the background with interest.
Roberto De Zerbi wants higher caliber players
But though Tottenham Hotspur and Roberto De Zerbi have said nothing publicly about Joao Palhinha, they did not need their manager to utter a single word. Because the truth is, Spurs want to do better than Palhinha. They do not want to admit it or ruffle feathers in case their ambitions backfire, but Spurs clearly do not think Palhinha is the caliber of player they need to compete in the top five of the Premier League again and be perennial Champions League contenders, which is De Zerbi's stated goal.
De Zerbi has been all over Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, two players who will cost Tottenham 80 million pounds and are not the kinds of defensive midfield signings this club usually makes. But De Zerbi has power and is all in on both midfielders. And yes, he very clearly wants both.
That then makes it obvious that De Zerbi views Palhinha nothing more than a backup plan. And by backup plan, that means even lower than a backup. De Zerbi wants to add Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali as his new starters, and then Archie Gray and Rodrigo Bentancur would be the main backups to them.
Palhinha does not figure into that equation, except as a backup in the case that Tottenham cannot sign their preferred transfer targets. Fernandes and Tonali are the top two, but it would not be surprising if De Zerbi went to Adam Wharton and Alex Scott next, saving Palhinha for the very back burner. It is sad for Palhinha, but Tottenham fans know he is not at that level; they will just be glad he came up big when he did and remember him fondly for that.
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