The next Javi Martínez? Why Bayern Munich want Fulham midfielder João Palhinha

31 Aug 2023

The Bayern Munich rumor mill has spat out another potential no.6 in the form of Fulham midfielder João Palhinha. Bild was the first to report on Wednesday that the Portuguese midfielder is now Bayern’s preferred target before the window closes on Friday. According to the paper, Bayern Munich have already made an offer. Sport1 has since reported that Palhinha wants to join Bayern Munich but that Fulham want in the region of €80m for the 28-year-old. 

Palhinha joined Fulham in 2022 for €20m from Portuguese side Sporting and is under contract until 2027. Since joining the London-based club, Palhinha has increased his market value from €25m to €40m and is the most valuable player in Fulham’s squad. Bayern see that market value as a much more realistic evaluation, and including bonuses, will not offer more than €60m. That fee would make Palhinha the fourth most expensive signing in Bayern’s history and the most expensive departure in Fulham’s history ahead of Aleksandar Mitrovic. Mitrovic was sold for €52.6m to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal this summer. 

Bayern head coach Thomas Tuchel, in the meantime, has made it clear that he wants to add another midfielder. "I've been asked about this five times now,” Tuchel said after Bayern’s 3-1 win over Augsburg last weekend when asked about wanting another no.6. “I said we only have three central midfielders who can play the holding midfield role, the moment someone gets injured, we'll only have two. And we play with a double pivot. So, it's all a matter of numbers.”

More than another no.6 – Why Bayern want Palhinha?

At the moment, Bayern have Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, and Konrad Laimer available in central midfield. Ryan Gravenberch can also play there but is currently in talks with Liverpool over a potential transfer. Then there is nominal left-back Raphaël Guerreiro, who last season also featured as a box-to-box midfielder for Dortmund. In other words, Tuchel, at a pinch, has three true midfielders plus Guerreiro available. But neither Kimmich, Goretzka nor Laimer are traditional defensive midfielders in a true no.6 mold. 

The same cannot be said about Palhinha. According to Squawka, Palhinha led all top seven league players with 154 tackles since the start of the 2022/23 season. According to Wyscout, Palhinha led the Premier League last season with 337 defensive duels. Indeed, Palhinha has been favorably compared to former Bayern great Javi Martínez. Martínez, of course, was central to Bayern Munich’s treble success in the 2012/13 season and was also still in the squad for the 2019/20 treble season. Tuchel believes that Palhinha can play a similar role for Bayern in the upcoming years, but it will take an extraordinary offer to convince Fulham to allow the midfielder to leave this late in the transfer window.