Joao Palhinha expected in England today to finalise Aston Villa move | OneFootball

Portuguese international midfielder Joao Palhinha is expected to arrive in England today to finalise a summer move to Aston Villa.

The Europa League champions recently announced the club-record signing of Johan Manzambi from Freiburg, and are close to acquiring Joao Gomes from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Villa have quickly accelerated talks to bring in Palhinha on a structured season-long loan, aiming to add proven Premier League quality alongside their other investments.

For Palhinha, a move to Villa ends a brief period of career uncertainty. The ‘reliable‘ 31-year-old spent last season on loan at Tottenham Hotspur.

He became an important figure under manager Roberto De Zerbi, famously scoring the match-winner against Everton on the final day to help preserve Spurs’ Premier League status.

However, Tottenham ultimately invested heavily in a double swoop for Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.

Bayern Munich have been actively seeking to get his wages off the books.

While Benfica and Sporting CP held tentative talks about a return to Portugal, Villa now appear to have won the race to sign him.

Villa’s urgent need for midfield reinforcements follows the departure of Youri Tielemans to Manchester United and Amadou Onana’s injury, sustained on international duty with Belgium at the World Cup.