Fabrizio Romano: Spurs turn down João Palhinha, Sporting miss out | OneFootball

João Palhinha’s return to Sporting is still far from being finalized. Although the Portuguese midfielder will not remain at Tottenham next season, the high fee demanded by Bayern Munich continues to complicate any potential move to Alvalade.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Tottenham have decided not to keep João Palhinha in the squad after signing Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes. Despite the Portugal international’s desire to stay at the London club, Spurs officials chose not to move forward with the midfielder’s stay.

However, Sporting are still finding it difficult to complete the deal. According to Florian Plettenberg, Bayern Munich are still demanding a high financial package to let the player leave, a scenario that has made negotiations more difficult. The same source adds that there are other clubs interested in João Palhinha, increasing the competition to sign the midfielder.

Even so, the Portugal international remains a highly valued player at Alvalade, where he shone before moving to Fulham and later Bayern Munich. Sporting are closely monitoring how the situation develops, but know they will have to overcome a complex case to make the return of one of the Club’s most influential midfielders of the last decade a reality.

This season, wearing the Tottenham shirt, João Palhinha - valued at €15 million - made 45 appearances: 33 in the Premier League, eight in the Champions League, two in the EFL Cup, one in the FA Cup and one in the UEFA Super Cup. In 2,917 minutes on the pitch, the defensive midfielder scored seven goals and provided two assists.

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