At long last and after months of doing pretty much nothing to address arguably their biggest need in the squad, Tottenham Hotspur have found their defensive midfielder. Bayern Munich backup Joao Palhinha, who has done approximately nothing since joining the Bundesliga giants, his headed back to where he belongs in the Premier League, where he starred for Fulham as one of the best destroyer profile No. 6's in English football before getting his big move to Bayern.
According to Fabrizio Romano and other reputable insiders, Palhinha is headed to Tottenham, who only accelerated their interest in the 30-year-old Portuguese international within the last 24 hours before securing their second loan deal in as many transfer windows with Bayern.
Their first was, of course, young left winger Mathys Tel, who played a key role in helping Spurs hoist a historic Europa League title in May before officially joining Tottenham on a permanent basis about a month later.
Joao Palhinha is a stopgap for Tottenham
Initially, it didn't look like Tottenham would entertain the idea of keeping Palhinha for more than one season because of his age, but it appears Spurs either had a chance of heart or, more likely, were forced to include an option to buy in Palhinha's loan contract in order to facilitate a move with Bayern.
Die Roten have no future plans for Palhinha, so they would be more than happy to see Palhinha go. Per Romano, there is indeed an option to buy in Palhinha's loan contract with Tottenham despite earlier reporting stating that Spurs were avoiding this clause. It's unclear how much Tottenham would have to pay to make Palhinha's stay permanent.
But the good thing is that it's only an option to buy and not an obligation to buy. So unless if Palhinha plays even better than he did at Fulham and proves he is one of the elite defensive midfielders in the Premier League, he's likely only going to be a one-year stopgap solution alongside the likes of Pape Sarr, Archie Gray, and Lucas Bergvall before Tottenham go for a younger and more playmaking profile in 2026 (Spurs fans will be eyeing Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace).
As it stands, Spurs could do a lot worse than Palhinha, and he's certainly superior to signing nobody at all. Tottenham seemed to be plodding on a deal because they wanted to give Yves BIssouma the axe first, so, perhaps, this Palhinha deal is a tacit indication that Bissouma's exit will be forthcoming.