Tottenham are adding Joao Palhinha to their ranks for the 2025/26 season, with Bayern Munich keen to get the midfielder off their books after one underwhelming campaign in Germany.
Vincent Kompany never quite took to the Portuguese international, who starred for two seasons at Fulham in the Premier League. The Belgian coach only used Palhinha sparingly, and Spurs, who have a cordial relationship with the Bundesliga giants, having negotiated the transfers of Harry Kane and Mathys Tel since 2023, have taken advantage of Bayern's stance.
The loan agreement hasn't been exclusively welcomed by Spurs supporters, although more are starting to come around. For some, Palhinha is not the passer Thomas Frank's engine room requires. However, his brilliance without the ball cannot be denied. During his two Premier League campaigns, the 30-year-old notched 109 more tackles than anybody else.
He's the enforcer profile Frank seemingly wants, with his physicality, leadership and ruggedness out of possession among the key attributes the new manager appreciates. Overall, Palhinha appears an astute addition, even if he functions as a stop-gap, but there is a financial caveat to the loan deal.
Tottenham will cover Joao Palhinha's Bayern salary as part of loan deal
Fabrizio Romano is among those to confirm that Spurs will cover the entirety of Palhinha's salary during his loan spell. The north Londoners then have an option to purchase the midfielder outright for less than £30m next summer.
Salary coverage from the purchasing club is, of course, pretty common. The absence of a loan fee means Bayern are getting something out of the deal, as they'll be getting Palhinha's £166,000-a-week wage off their massive bill.
If Capology's figures are accurate, Palhinha has immediately become Tottenham's third-highest earner and will move up to second if Son Heung-min departs. The Bayern midfielder is due to earn over £8.6m, which is just a little bit more than Cristian Romero, who, we hope, will receive a bumper new deal and commit his future to the club long-term.
For £8.6m all in, I don't think we can have many complaints. Sure, Palhinha's not the passer everyone thinks we need, but there will be ways for Frank to mitigate the absence of this profile in the engine room. James Maddison could be used deeper, for example.
Whether he's a player we should buy permanently remains to be seen given his age, but we'll reserve judgement until we see the master ball-winner in action.