Midfielder João Palhinha is leaving FC Bayern as expected and moving back to his home country to Benfica Lisbon. The German soccer record champions announced this on Wednesday. As Benfica announced, the club will pay Bayern a transfer fee of 14 million euros, which can rise to up to 19 million euros through possible bonus payments.
Palhinha moved from FC Fulham to Bayern in the summer of 2024 for around 50 million euros, but never met expectations in Munich. “We discussed his situation at FC Bayern openly with João Palhinha and then found a way that we could all agree on,” said sports director Max Eberl. In the past few weeks, Bayern have emphasized several times that they are no longer planning to play Palhinha.
The 31-year-old was originally supposed to move to Bayern in 2023, but the transfer fell through at the last second. A year later, Palhinha did move, but only made 25 appearances under coach Vincent Kompany, mostly from the bench. The Portuguese international was already on loan at Tottenham Hotspur last season.