Following Aston Villa’s confirmed interest, Newcastle United has now reportedly added the 31-year-old Portuguese international to their transfer shortlist. My information indicates that Palhinha is considered by the Magpies as the primary alternative should their pursuit of Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg from Olympique de Marseille ultimately prove unsuccessful.

Newcastle could soon see either Höjbjerg, a former Bayern player, or Palhinha anchoring their defensive midfield. Palhinha, a player actively sought by former Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel, initially joined Munich in 2025. This move came after his transfer from Fulham FC dramatically collapsed the previous year due to Fulham’s last-minute veto.

Munich had previously assured the Portuguese midfielder of their continued interest. However, by the time he finally arrived in Munich for a fee of approximately 50 million euros, Tuchel had long since departed. His successor, Vincent Kompany, found little use for the purely defensive-minded tackler.

Last season, Palhinha enjoyed a relatively successful loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur. However, a permanent transfer fell through due to Bayern’s financial demands. Neither Tottenham, Palhinha’s formative club Sporting, nor their fierce rivals Benfica were prepared to meet the reported 35 million euro asking price.

Who is interested in Joao Palhinha?

After Aston Villa’s sporting director, Damian Vidagany, publicly acknowledged their interest in Palhinha on Friday, following Villa’s 2-1 friendly defeat to Munich in Hong Kong, Newcastle has now reportedly entered the fray for the midfielder.

At Newcastle United, the coffers are certainly full following the departures of central midfielders Sandro Tonali (to Tottenham) and Bruno Guimaraes (to Arsenal), which collectively generated 204.5 million euros in transfer fees. However, the squad of new German coach Matthias Jaissle is in urgent need of a dedicated defensive midfielder.

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Who could still strengthen Newcastle United’s midfield?

The preferred solution for Newcastle remains Höjbjerg, who was part of Bayern Munich’s youth setup from 2012 to 2016 before forging his senior career at Southampton, Tottenham, and later Marseille in the Premier League and France. However, if the Danish international’s transfer were to fall through, Palhinha could quickly emerge as a strong candidate, according to my understanding of the situation.

Financially, a deal should not pose an insurmountable hurdle for Newcastle, even if the theoretically wealthiest club globally has adopted a more measured approach to spending in recent times.