Tottenham Hotspur missed out on Morgan Gibbs-White. But Thomas Frank will be pleased that he has strengthened his midfield elsewhere, with much-needed depth at No.6.
Spurs are reportedly on the verge of signing Joao Palhinha from Bayern Munich on a season-long loan. It’s a move that gives the North London side some steel in the middle of the park. They have looked light in that position after a dismal 2024-25 Premier League season.
The former Fulham star will provide competition to the likes of Yves Bissouma, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur. Although he is a very different player to many of the midfielders Tottenham currently possess.
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An unhappy spell in Bavaria
The 30-year-old wowed fans during two superb years in the Premier League with Fulham between 2022 and 2024. And those displays earned him a £47m move to the German giants last summer.
Palhinha’s big move to the Bundesliga hasn’t gone to plan, however. A torn muscle ruled him out for the first half of the season, missing a total of 14 games. And when he returned, he found it hard to get into Vincent Kompany’s high-flying team, with Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka first-choice.
Even young midfielder Aleksandr Pavlovic appeared to be above him in the pecking order. Palhinha only made six starts in the Bundesliga. It’s clear he doesn’t have a future at the club under Kompany at present. But he now has a huge opportunity to remind Premier League fans what he’s capable of.
Although Palhinha only played 667 minutes in the Bundesliga last season, you can see his defensive quality is still there.
Palhinha averaged 1.89 tackles per 90 in the Bundesliga last season. Compared to Tottenham midfielders from last season, that was just behind Bissouma (1.99) and Pape Sarr (2.09). He also had 2.29 ball recoveries per 90, compared to Bissouma’s 5.44, Bergvall’s 5.45 and Sarr’s 3.14.
The best option
Palhinha thrived with his physical nature, though. The Portuguese midfielder won 7.02 duels per 90, better than any Tottenham midfielder’s average last season. Bergvall (6.42 duels won per 90) was the best of Tottenham’s bunch. Palhinha also had a superior ground duel success over every Tottenham midfielder with 55.17%.
While Palhinha is primarily known for being a tough-tackling defensive midfielder, he also demonstrated his passing ability and threat with the ball in the final third. The Portugal international managed 7.96 final third entries per 90, far better than Tottenham’s highest total (Bissouma with 6.15). He also had a 79.66% success rate when it came to passes into the final third.
Palhinha completed an average of 6.34 passes into the final third per 90 and showed his ball-carrying qualities with a ball retention rate of 91.26%, beating Bentancur’s 90.91%.
Palhinha had a passing accuracy of 92.99% in open play, far superior to Tottenham’s best from Bentancur (89.74) and a total of 87.98 touches per 90. The biggest total from Spurs was Bergvall on 71.57.
Premier League experience
While Palhinha only played 17 games in the Bundesliga, he was still given 25 appearances in total by Kompany. That gave him a chance to showcase his ability.
In his final season in the Premier League, Palhinha started 31 of Fulham’s 38 games, scoring four and assisting once. He won the second-most tackles for a central midfielder (75) and won 259 duels. Only Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes won more in 2023-24.
He had the highest ground duel success (61.76%) and the highest number of possessions won in the defensive third (89).
Palhinha still has to prove he can continue to compete at the highest level in the Premier League. Not to mention become a first team starter in a talented Tottenham side that will be playing Champions League football this season. But he’s demonstrated what a nuisance he can be in midfield.
Tottenham let too many games pass them by last season because they couldn’t make things happen in midfield, which was too easily bypassed and didn’t have enough creativity. Palhinha has shown he has buckets of talent defensively and going forward, which can only benefit a Tottenham team that finished 17th last season.
With Palhinha screening the back four and sprucing up Tottenham’s attack going forward, he could provide the perfect fold for Thomas Frank and allow the rest of his teammates to thrive.