Tottenham are considering a move for Bayern Munich outcast Joao Palhinha this summer
Tottenham Hotspur were outmuscled and outsmarted in the middle of the park several times last season. They lacked any kind of control in former boss Ange Postecoglou’s system, which allowed the opposition to exploit the spaces in midfield.
Bar Lucas Bergvall and Dejan Kulusevski, none of the Spurs midfielders showed any consistency on the pitch. Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur were poor and barely managed to control the tempo of play with their passing and reading of the game. As a result, new Tottenham boss Thomas Frank must bolster the midfield unit by adding a defensive midfielder to his squad this summer.
As per recent reports, the Lilywhites are considering a move for Bayern Munich midfielder Joao Palhinha.
Joao Palhinha moved to Bayern Munich from Fulham in July 2024- a year after his deal with the Bavarian giants had collapsed. He won the Bundesliga title during his debut season with Bayern Munich, but his contributions were minimal, partially due to injury. Also, intense competition within the midfield ranks limited the enforcer to only six starts in the Bundesliga.
Considering he only arrived a year back for around £47.4m, it would seem that Bayern bosses are eager to cut their losses as they have started offering the Portugal international to several clubs. Palhinha could be allowed to leave the Allianz Arena for as little as £26million this summer.
Ex-scout backs Tottenham to offer Bissouma or Bentancur in swap deal for Palhinha
Palhinha has struggled to cement his place in Vincent Kompany’s side and would therefore be open to leaving Bayern after just one season. A potential return to England is on the cards, with Spurs showing an interest in signing him.
Now, ex-Spurs scout Bryan King feels that the North Londoners must explore the possibility of trying to negotiate a potential swap deal for Palhinha with either Bissouma or Bentancur.
“What about Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur?” Bryan King exclusively told Tottenham News.
“Perhaps there will be a potential swap deal here, to liven both players involved up. I can’t really see the benefit of bringing in Palhinha if Bentancur and Bissouma are both still there.
“Nobody has moved on yet. Speculation at this time of the year is becoming increasingly controlled by players’ agents. We need to wait and see what happens.”
Spurs must try a Bentancur-Palhinha swap deal
Tottenham are currently in negotiations with Fenerbahce for Bissouma, who has entered the final year of his contract. The Hotspur Way chiefs want to cash in on the Mali international as he has failed to show any signs of consistency over three seasons in North London and will turn 29 in August.
Likewise, Bentancur is also into the final year of his contract. However, in contrast to Bissouma, the Uruguay international has barely been linked with an exit. That said, Spurs must try to use him in a potential swap deal with Palhinha, given Frank has many No.8s in his current roster. Also, if a move for Morgan Gibbs-White goes through, he can also operate as a box-to-box midfielder.
If Tottenham can convince Bentancur to become a part of swap deal and Bayern agree to such a deal, we can land a desirable profile of a No.6 in Palhinha.