Palhinha's confession to Sérgio Krithinas before Sporting pulled out | OneFootball

João Palhinha was at one point Sporting’s main priority to strengthen the midfield in the last transfer window, but the return to Alvalade ultimately did not happen. Now, Sérgio Krithinas has revealed a conversation with the Portugal international, at a time when his future was still up in the air, which helps explain what the player valued most.

On the Now channel, the journalist said he met Palhinha at an airport in July, precisely when Benfica’s interest was starting to gather momentum. “He told me he didn’t really know what his future would be and that he would go where he felt most loved and wanted. I was clearly left with the idea that Benfica would be a very strong possibility,” revealed Sérgio Krithinas.

By then, Sporting had already practically abandoned the case. The Lions had submitted an offer of 8 million euros fixed, plus 4 million in add-ons, to Bayern Munich, but the German club refused to meet on two occasions because of the option Tottenham still held over the midfielder.

Faced with the deadlock, Sporting’s board ultimately decided to move forward with Sergi Altimira. On 27 June, Sporting informed João Palhinha that they had chosen the Spaniard, who would be officially announced a few days later.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.