Aston Villa in talks to sign Bayern Munich's Joao Palhinha
What's the story
Aston Villa are reportedly in talks over a move for Bayern Munich's Joao Palhinha. The move comes after Amadou Onana suffered a serious knee injury while playing for Belgium at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Palhinha, a 31-year-old Portugal international, has emerged as a potential replacement for Onana at Villa Park, as per reports. Palhinha played at Tottenham Hotspur on loan last season before the club decided against making his move permanent. He returned to Bayern thereafter.
Transfer talks
Palhinha open to Villa move
Sources close to Palhinha have revealed that he is yet to make a decision on the transfer but is open to the idea of moving to Villa Park.
The club has been identified as one of his best options.
Bayern Munich are willing to let him leave two years after signing him from Fulham for £47.4 million.
Previous loan
Spurs opted against signing Palhinha last season
As mentioned, last season, Palhinha was on loan at Tottenham Hotspur. However, the North London club chose not to activate their £26 million buy option.
Despite this, Villa director of football Damian Vidagany has expressed interest in signing Palhinha.
"Joao Palhinha is a very good player who would fit our plans," Vidagany told German outlet Bild on Friday.
Squad changes
Villa's busy summer transfer window
The potential signing of Palhinha comes amid a busy summer for Unai Emery's Europa League-winning side.
The club has already seen high-profile departures such as Morgan Rogers to Chelsea, Youri Tielemans to Manchester United, and Lucas Digne to Paris Saint-Germain.
Despite these exits, Villa have managed to bolster their squad with new signings including Alejandro Garnacho from Chelsea on loan, Joao Gomes from Wolves, Johan Manzambi from Freiburg and Moudou Keba Cisse from LASK Linz.
Information
A look at Palhinha's club career journey
Palhinha played 95 games for Sporting, scoring 7 goals. He had loan spells at Moreirense, Belenenses and Braga. He moved to Fulham and scored 8 goals in 79 matches across two seasons. He then played 25 matches for Bayern in 2024-25 season. Last season, he made 45 appearances for Spurs, scoring 7 times.