A pre-agreed Tottenham transfer is no longer happening, with transfer guru Fabrizio Romano explaining why.
Tottenham broke their transfer record on Thursday upon completing the £85m acquisition of Mateus Fernandes from West Ham. All being well, that record will fall once again very shortly.
Sandro Tonali is poised to put pen to paper on a £100m (£92.5m plus £7.5m in add-ons) arrival from Newcastle.
Tonali has already pointed to Roberto De Zerbi as a big reason why he, to the surprise of some, chose Spurs following successive 17th-placed finishes in the Premier League.
But with Fernandes and Tonali both arriving, there’s a logjam forming in central midfield.
Aside from the new recruits, De Zerbi can also call upon Rodrigo Bentancur, Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Sarr and Conor Gallagher.
As such, and given Tottenham have fewer fixtures than usual next term with no European football, it’s easy to see why they’ve pulled the plug on signing Joao Palhinha outright.
The Portugal international was a rare bright spark in a season of doom and gloom last term, and memorably scored the crucial goal that secured their Premier League status on the final day.
Palhinha’s loan from Bayern Munich contained an option to buy worth €30m / £26m. If activated, personal terms were already sealed, and Palhinha would have joined Spurs outright.
But in lieu of Tottenham spending £185m on two new midfielders and thus far refusing to sell those already in situ like Gray and Bergvall, the decision has been made to ignore Palhinha’s option.
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Tottenham call off Joao Palhinha transfer
The Sun’s Tom Barclay was first to break that news, stating on X: ‘Presume most #thfc fans would have expected this, but with Tonali and Fernandes blockbuster midfield signings, understand Joao Palhinha won’t be returning to Spurs.
‘Club going into a new era but think supporters will appreciate how Palhinha stepped up when they needed him most.’
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Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano added weight to the claims, and also pointed to Fernandes and Tonali as to why Palhinha’s deal is now off.
‘João Palhinha will not stay at Spurs this summer despite his desire to continue at the club,’ he wrote.
‘The decision has been made after Tonali and Mateus Fernandes signings.’