Joao Palhinha has been a revelation at Tottenham Hotspur this season, and his good fortunes continued in the team’s 3-0 win over Everton.
The 30-year-old has drawn a fair amount of praise since making the move from Bayern Munich, with Micah Richards hailing Tottenham’s deal to sign Palhinha.
Tottenham have been so impressed by Palhinha, and TBR Football understands that plans are already in place to make the loan deal permanent.
But a deal to sign the Portuguese international wasn’t particularly popular, and some Spurs fans can’t believe what was being said about him initially.
Tottenham fans can’t believe Joao Palhinha’s signing was ever questioned
Some Tottenham Hotspur fans have laughed off previous suggestions that Joao Palhinha wasn’t good enough to sign for them.
Back in the summer, a deal to sign Palhinha on loan from Bayern Munich proved to be quite divisive, causing a split down the fanbase.
Many wanted a new number six who was more progressive, but others believed that Palhinha would bring much-needed experience and steel to Spurs’ midfield.
But Palhinha’s importance to Tottenham has quickly been realised with his excellent defensive statistics.
According to Squawka, this season, the former Bayern Munich star has made the most tackles and has the highest duel success rate of any midfielder in the Premier League.
In the aftermath of his superb performance against the Toffees, Tottenham fans have taken to X to slam fellow supporters who didn’t want him.
One fan claimed: “Some fans putting him in Bentancur conversations have been proved so wrong, they’re not in the same stratosphere.”
“Newcastle, Chelsea, United, Arsenal next. The Palhinha, Bentancur midfield has been super unpopular, but I think we will really see their value in the upcoming fixture run,” added another supporter.
One fan believes that Palhinha is proving him wrong after watching back his highlights against Everton: “I’ve made clear my frustrations that we signed him, that we play him far too much… But man, if he ain’t outrageous at this stuff.
Finally, another fan aimed a dig at other Spurs supporters who initially criticised his signing: “Some of the fanbase said he would set the project back 5 years because he can’t pass or do skills…”
Alan Pardew explains why Joao Palhinha is so important for Tottenham
Former Spurs player and Premier League manager, Alan Pardew, has also been full of praise for Palhinha and highlighting his importance to the team.
Pardew stated that the Portuguese midfielder was arguably Spurs’ best player against Everton and did all the dirty work in the middle of the park.
“I thought Spurs had resilience about them, which is a word you don’t often associate with Spurs teams. I thought Palhinha was outstanding today. He did a lot of things that people don’t really notice,” Pardew told TalkSPORT.
“When you’re away from home, that holding midfielder, that security net, that covering up for some of your offensive players that don’t fill all the holes was so important today. I’ll give him a massive star rating.”