“There is no news about it and there is no point thinking about it now either. He plays at Fulham and we play here without him. I don’t know, things can change sometimes. Nobody can predict that.”let go a year ago Thomas Tuchel, then coach of Bayern Munich following the failure of the João Palhinha case. Not a big fan of Joshua Kimmich and wanting to bring a more defensive profile into the Bavarian midfield, the German coach had put pressure on his management in order to snatch the signature of the 29-year-old Portuguese player. A case never finalized which will have crystallized tensions throughout the season and which will not have advanced further during the winter break. However, Bayern Munich did not give up and will have managed to afford the player on July 11 for a check for 51 million euros.
“João Palhinha was already highly coveted by FC Bayern last summer, and rightly so. It was important that we never lost contact. João really wanted to come to Bayern, and we need players like him. He is an important element for our future. He has once again demonstrated his strengths on the big stage of the Euros and brings a lot of experience, having already participated in a Euro and a World Cup, and having made around 300 appearances in the Portuguese and English leagues. He will bring us greater stability in midfield.“, announced the sporting director Max Eberl on the arrival of the former Braga and Sporting CP player. However, the situation seems completely different two months later and Vincent Kompany seems to prefer another animation.
Reasons for hope?
Having become a right-back last season, Joshua Kimmich has found his place in the centre and thus forms a formidable tandem with Alexander Pavlovic in midfield. Complementary, the two men have played the majority of the minutes while João Palhinha has had to make do with crumbs. Left on the bench during the first day against Wolfsburg (3-2), he then played 16 minutes against Freiburg (2-0). Before the resumption of the Bundesliga, he had also played only 13 minutes against Ulm (4-0). A tactical reason that consultant Lothar Matthäus has stressed to explain João Palhinha’s lack of protagonism at the start of the season.
“The signing of Palhinha came before Kompany was at FC Bayern. If Kompany had already been there and Palhinha had not yet signed, he might not have needed a fifth midfielder in that position. If Kimmich plays in position six, there is currently one less place available in the double pivot for two or three other players, including Palhinha.”explained the former Bayern Munich star on Sky SportThe problem for João Palhinha is that he has also played little in the national team. He remained on the bench against Croatia (2-1), but came off at half-time against Scotland (2-1) when his team was trailing 1-0. Not necessarily the best way to be confident.
During this gathering, Vitinha has taken points on him and his start to the season is much more complicated than expected. Surely thinking he would have a different start to the adventure, João Palhinha can nevertheless have some reasons for hope. Already, the profile of the opponents faced by Bayern Munich like Ulm, Wolfsburg and Fribourg are not big names and Vincent Kompany would not have considered it important to have a profile that is too defensive in the middle for these matches if we are to believe Kicker. The German media also explains that Vincent Kompany wants to set up a rotation in view of the Champions League and that stronger opponents will arrive such as Bayer Leverkusen (September 28), Aston Villa (October 2), Eintracht Frankfurt (October 6), Stuttgart (October 19) or FC Barcelona (October 23). Matches that could allow João Palhinha to play his chance boldly? In any case, it will be up to him to seize it…
