Newcastle United have now joined Aston Villa in targeting the 31-year-old Portuguese. According to a report by the Daily Mail on Sunday, the Magpies see Palhinha as their first alternative if a move for Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg from Olympique Marseille still falls through.
That would mean Newcastle's future holding midfielder could be either former Bayern man Höjbjerg or Palhinha. Bayern's former coach Thomas Tuchel wanted Palhinha, who moved to Munich in 2025 after his transfer from Fulham the previous year collapsed at the last moment because of Fulham's veto.
Bayern then promised the Portuguese they would keep pushing for the deal. But by the time he finally arrived in Munich for around €50 million, Tuchel had long since gone. His successor Vincent Kompany had little use for a purely defensive ball-winner.
Last season, Palhinha spent a fairly successful loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur. A permanent move did not happen because of Bayern's asking price. Neither Tottenham, nor Palhinha's boyhood club Sporting, nor arch-rivals Benfica were willing to pay the reported €35 million fee.
Who is interested in Joao Palhinha?
Following Aston Villa sporting director Damian Vidagany publicly confirming Villa's interest in Palhinha on the sidelines of the 2-1 defeat to Bayern in the friendly in Hong Kong on Friday, Newcastle are now also said to have entered the race.
New German coach Matthias Jaissle is short of a defensive midfielder after Newcastle United sold central midfielders Sandro Tonali to Tottenham and Bruno Guimaraes to champions Arsenal. Those two departures brought in a combined €204.5 million in fees and certainly boosted the club's coffers.
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Who else could strengthen Newcastle United's midfield?
Top of the list is said to be Höjbjerg, who was under contract at Bayern Munich from 2012 to 2016 as a young player before moving on to Southampton, Tottenham and finally Marseille in the Premier League and France. But if a move for the Dane still collapses, Palhinha could quickly come into focus instead, according to the Daily Mail.
Money is unlikely to be the issue on Newcastle's side, even if the theoretically richest club in the world are no longer throwing cash around with both hands these days.