Joao Palhinha’s time at FC Bayern has officially come to an end. The Portuguese player is moving to Benfica Lisbon, and all remaining details have been finalized.
The deal is now officially done: Joao Palhinha is leaving FC Bayern to join Benfica Lisbon. After the transfer had already become increasingly likely in recent days, the parties involved have now resolved the final outstanding issues.
As reported by BILD, the move is now official. According to the report, the final details have been worked out, including outstanding agreements between FC Bayern and the player’s side. The official announcement of the transfer is expected in the coming hours.
According to the report, the German record champions will receive a transfer fee of around 15 million euros for Palhinha. This amount could rise even further due to agreed-upon bonus payments. However, this means Bayern will incur a significant financial loss on their former top target.
Palhinha had only moved to Munich from Fulham in the summer of 2024 for around 50 million euros. Two years later, this major miscalculation is now coming to an end with a significant financial loss.
Palhinha’s transfer to Benfica finally finalized
Most recently, there had been some lingering doubts about the transfer. Palhinha was already in Lisbon, where he underwent his medical exam at Benfica. However, a final agreement among all parties had not yet been reached at that point.
As a result, a return to Munich had not been completely ruled out. That will not happen now. After Palhinha successfully passed his medical exams, the remaining contractual issues were also resolved.
This brings to an end a disappointing spell at FC Bayern for the 31-year-old. Palhinha was originally signed to provide defensive stability in central midfield. However, the Portuguese international was never able to live up to the high expectations in Munich.
Already after his first season, Palhinha was loaned to Tottenham Hotspur. The English club had an option to buy but decided against a permanent transfer. Upon his return to Munich, the midfielder initially hoped for a new chance under Vincent Kompany.
It quickly became clear, however, that Palhinha played virtually no role in the team’s sporting plans. FC Bayern therefore worked intensively to secure a permanent departure for the transfer flop. In addition to Benfica, several Premier League clubs had also shown interest in the Portuguese player at one point.
Now Benfica has won the bid. Palhinha will thus return to his native Portugal, while Bayern will remove one of its most prominent players on the transfer list from its payroll before the end of the transfer window. Official confirmation of the deal is now just a formality.