Fulham’s João Palhinha set to complete €55m move to Bayern Munich | OneFootball

As reported by Fabrizio Romano, João Palhinha is set to complete a move from Fulham to Bayern Munich for a fee of around €55m.

The fee will be comprised of €50m up front, with the further €5m being potential add-ons.

Meanwhile, having pushed for the move himself over the prior weeks, Palhinha will sign a contract until 2028 with the German giants, before completing his medical after finishing Portugal’s Euro 2024 run.

The conformation of the deal will bring to an end a long-winded transfer saga between the three parties, which has been going on for over a year.

After the two clubs agreed on a deal late on in last year’s summer window, Palhinha traveled to Munich to finalize the transfer on deadline day, only for The London club to back out of the move at the final hour as the midfielder was having his photograph taken with the Bayern kit in preparation for the announcement.

However, despite being left disappointed last summer, the Portuguese international now seems to have gotten his wish, albeit he will now join Vincent Kompany’s side rather than Thomas Tuchel’s – as the former Chelsea and PSG boss departed the record Bundesliga champions at the end of last season.

Tuchel had repeatedly expressed his frustrations throughout last season over a midfield that lacked the same defensive solidity and ball-winning capabilities seen in Xabi Alonso’s title winning team, and the arriving 28-year-old will certainly take up that roll.

Whilst he’s not the most progressive player, the former Sporting CP and Braga man is comfortable in-possession and sensational out of it. In the past two seasons at Fulham, Palhinha has made more tackles and interceptions than any other player in Europe’s top five league, averaging 6.6 per 90 minutes in the most recent Premier League campaign.

It’s those defensive capabilities that Kompany will hope Palhinha can replicate in Bavaria, as the former Burnley head coach looks to reinvigorate a Bayern squad that just completed Bayern’s first trophyless season since 2011-12.

Travis Levison | Get Football