Finally! A year ago, the transfer talks broke down, this time, they didn’t. Joao Palhinha is officially Bayern’s latest reinforcement. The exhausting negotiations with Fulham lasted for months and finally yielded results. The Portuguese midfielder arrived at Allianz Arena a year later than expected, signing a four-year deal with the Bavarians.A year later, because Palhinha was already seen as a new Bayern player last August. On the last day of the transfer window, he arrived at the club’s headquarters and took a picture with the jersey, with only the official confirmation missing. However, it never came. Fulham did not manage to find a replacement for the portuguese, and, regarding his influence on the English side’s performance, they decided to prevent the transfer and leave the German giant without a capital reinforcement.𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆.FC Bayern sign João Palhinha! ✍️ #ServusJoão🔗 https://t.co/Ivg2KUjLUg#ServusJoão #FCBayern #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/fKh7OH9yrP— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) July 11, 2024 As it turned out, the Cottagers only prolonged the inevitable. Bayern learned a lesson and this time didn’t want to wait until the last moment, and run the risk of losing the player again. They started the negotiations at the very beginning of the transfer window and eventually completed a deal. Moneywise, the fifth largest in the history of the club, since the compensation amounted to 51 million euros.The Munich club’s director of sport, Max Eberl, was delighted with the work done.”Joao Palhinha was highly sought after by FC Bayern even last summer – and rightly so. It was important that we never lost touch. Joao really wanted to come to Bayern, and we need players like that. He’s an important building block for our future. He’s once again demonstrated his strengths on the big stage at the Euros and brings a lot of experience, having previously played at a Euros and World Cup, and making around 300 appearances in the Portuguese and English leagues. He will give us greater stability in the centre,” stated Eberl at the player’s introduction at the club.Eagle has landed: Crystal Palace star officially joins Bayern MunichPalhinha, on the other hand, couldn’t hide his joy, claiming that his dream came true.”This is one of the happiest days of my life. I’m now playing for one of the top clubs in Europe. It’s a dream come true for me, and I’m very proud of that. I’m looking forward to the atmosphere and the fans at the Allianz Arena. I want to enjoy success with FC Bayern and win titles – I’ll give it my all,” Palhinha said.##NAJAVA_MECA_8205948##Including the Portuguese’s transfer, Bayern spent 145.4 million euros in the current transfer window. Before the 29-year-old midfielder, the Bavarians brought in Michael Olise from Crystal Palace (53 million), Hiroki Ito from Stuttgart (23.5 million), Nestory Irankunda from Adelaide United (3.4 million), and Armindo Sieb from Greuter Furth (1.5 million), while Bryan Zaragoza joined from Granada after the Munich side activated the buyout clause worth 13 million euros.
