Joao Palhinha is to have a Tottenham medical in Germany on Friday ahead of a season-long loan move from Bayern Munich.

The deal includes the option to make the transfer permanent for €30million (£25.9m, $34.2m) at the end of the season, and Spurs will cover his wages in full.

[*The Athletic* reported](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6508273/2025/07/31/joao-palhinha-tottenham-loan-bayern/) on Thursday that Tottenham were in talks with Bayern over a proposed loan move for Palhinha. The Portuguese midfielder was made available by the German champions this summer, but the Premier League club favoured a loan move over a permanent deal.

Palhinha joined Bayern last summer in a deal worth €51million ($58.3m) following a successful two years at Fulham but he made just 25 appearances for Vincent Kompany’s side, of which 10 were starts.

The 30-year-old was often behind Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Konrad Laimer in Kompany’s selection, and the German champions have signed another midfielder, Tom Bischof, this summer.

Tottenham and Bayern have already done business this summer, after the north London club [signed Mathys Tel permanently](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6426232/2025/06/15/tottenham-confirm-mathys-tel-transfer/), following his loan spell in the second half of 2024-25.

Palhinha was Fulham’s player of the season in his debut campaign at Craven Cottage and made 79 appearances in total for the club. Before his move to the Premier League, he had spent the entirety of his senior career in Portugal with Sporting CP and had several loan spells elsewhere.

The Portugal international could become Tottenham’s fifth new arrival of the summer. Mohammed Kudus joined Spurs from West Ham United earlier in July in a deal worth £55million ($74.7m), alongside defenders Luka Vuskovic and Kota Takai from Hajduk Split and Kawasaki respectively, while Tel joined permanently from Bayern.

Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White was set to undergo a medical to join Tottenham but later [signed a new contract](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6485870/2025/07/26/morgan-gibbs-white-forest-contract/) at the City Ground.

# ‘Spurs profiting from a muddled situation’ – analysis

*By The Athletic’s German Football Correspondent Sebastian Stafford-Bloor*

Had Joao Palhinha moved to Bayern Munich when he first expected to, in the final hours of the transfer window in the summer of 2023, his time at the club might have been different. They were crying out for a player of his profile — an ornery, physical ball-winner — and would surely have been a better side for his inclusion.

As it was, the year’s delay in the transfer worked very much against him. By the time he arrived at Sabener Strasse, Joshua Kimmich had moved back into midfield from right-back, Aleksandar Pavlovic had properly emerged as a first-teamer, and the coach who had supported his signing — Thomas Tuchel — had been replaced by Vincent Kompany.  
It had also been expected that Leon Goretzka would leave the club, or at least remain on the squad’s fringes. As it was, Goretzka was unexpectedly rehabilitated during Palhinha’s first season under Kompany, and became a further obstacle to a starting position.

Even if he rarely played well for Bayern and never established a proper rhythm, it’s fairer to describe Palhinha as the wrong player, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, rather than just as a midfielder who was not good enough. Spurs, essentially, are profiting from a muddled situation, rather than snapping up an inferior product.

[The Athletic] Joao Palhinha to have Tottenham medical ahead of loan move from Bayern Munich [David Ornstein]