Joao Palhinha’s disciplinary record makes for interesting reading after the midfielder became Tottenham’s newest midfield addition.
If there is one thing where Palhinha excels in more than anything else, it is the ability to win back possession in the middle of the park.
Palhinha made more successful tackles than any other Premier League player during his two-year stay at Fulham. In fact, the player who was second on the list, Moises Caicedo, made 109 fewer tackles than the Portuguese star.
That is evidently why Tottenham Hotspur wanted him on board, with Thomas Frank mentioning Palhinha’s ability to break up play as his best attribute.
Will Joao Palhinha pick up a lot of cards at Tottenham?
Players who are generally as combative as the 30-year-old always run the risk of accumulating cards and suspensions.
However, Palhinha rarely tends to get sent off, with Transfermarkt revealing that the midfielder has picked up just one red card over his last three seasons across his time at Fulham and Bayern Munich.
The one potential worry for Thomas Frank is that the midfielder does tend to rack up yellow cards, having been suspended for six matches during his time at Fulham as a result of accumulating bookings.
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That means that Spurs fans can expect Palhinha to be booked very regularly, but the Portugal international is very good at toeing the line and not getting a second yellow once he is in the referee’s notebook.
Palhinha has set his sights on winning trophies at Tottenham
Joao Palhinha has said that he aims to win titles this season, with the Portuguese star insisting that Tottenham have the quality in their squad to achieve that.
The 30-year-old will have a familiar face at Spurs, having previously played alongside Pedro Porro at Sporting Lisbon.