João Palhinha apparently pushed through his upcoming transfer to Benfica Lisbon with all his might. According to his close friend and former teammate Diogo Viana, FC Bayern actually wanted to transfer the Portuguese player to Newcastle United, where a higher transfer fee would have been on the table. Palhinha, however, refused to be swayed.
The João Palhinha chapter at FC Bayern is over. The midfielder is on the verge of returning to Portugal and hopes to join Benfica Lisbon. According to reports, Bayern will receive just under 15 million euros in transfer fees. This sum could rise to as much as 20 million euros through bonus payments.
His departure from Munich could apparently have played out quite differently. Newcastle United was actively pursuing the 31-year-old and was reportedly willing to pay more for Palhinha than Benfica. From Bayern’s perspective, a move to the Premier League would therefore have been the more attractive option.
Palhinha himself, however, had other plans. Diogo Viana, a close friend and former teammate of the midfielder, has now revealed some remarkable details about the negotiations.
Bayern wanted to convince Palhinha to join Newcastle
According to Viana, Newcastle had already gone to great lengths in their efforts. “Newcastle had even arranged private jets to fly the family over, but João had always said he wanted to join Benfica,” he explained in an interview with Sport TV Portugal.
Bayern officials are also said to have tried to convince Palhinha to move to England. “Kompany invited João for a personal meeting, as did the sporting director, to push through a move to Newcastle and convince João that he was a player for the Premier League,” Viana reported.
From Bayern’s perspective, the Newcastle deal would apparently have been much more financially attractive. Palhinha, however, remained steadfast in his position.
“João stood his ground and told FC Bayern that he would either go to Benfica or nowhere else,” Viana said.
The Portuguese player was reportedly even willing to accept the potential athletic consequences of a failed transfer: “João even said that if he didn’t go to Benfica, he wouldn’t mind putting his career on the line and staying there for the entire year.”
Family apparently tipped the scales
According to Viana, this put the Munich club under increasing pressure. Keeping a player with no athletic prospects and a high salary on the roster for another year was not an attractive option. “FC Bayern realized that they either had to accept Benfica’s terms or be stuck with a player who was just costing them money,” Viana explained.
Palhinha’s strong desire to return to Portugal apparently stemmed from personal reasons as well. In particular, being close to his children is said to have played a key role in his decision. “In England, he didn’t see his children as often as he would have liked, but here in Portugal he has that opportunity,” Viana explained.
This makes it clear why Palhinha chose Benfica despite the apparently more lucrative offer from Newcastle. While Bayern was hoping for the financially better option, the player himself had a clear goal: Benfica—or no transfer at all.