Man United opted against signing Bayern Munich’s Joao Palhinha earlier this summer, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
The Portuguese international is now set to join Spurs, but speaking on the ‘Here We Go’ podcast, Romano revealed that the Red Devils seriously considered making a move a couple of months ago, only to decide that they wanted a different profile:
“I can give you one secret. Man United, at the beginning of the window, end of May/start of June, considered the opportunity to go for Joao Palhinha who is Portuguese like Ruben Amorim, he knows the player so well, now Palhinha is going to Tottenham, €30M loan deal with buy option.”
“Man United decided eventually to go for a different player, less holding defensive midfielder, still defensive but with more intensity in their vision. Let’s see what happens and what kind of opportunity is on the market.”
Amorim had worked with Palhinha before
The midfielder spent two seasons under the management of Ruben Amorim at Sporting Lisbon before he was sold to Fulham for £20m in the summer of 2022.
After two impressive years at Craven Cottage, Palhinha was signed by Bayern for £47.4m, but he struggled for game time during his first 12 months in Germany, and he is now returning to the Premier League with Tottenham.
Who will Man United sign instead?
As Romano mentions, Director of Football Jason Wilcox and Head of Recruitment Christopher Vivell are not seeking a traditional no.6, which means links to Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi are probably wide of the mark, despite the fact that he is available for just £9m.
It would also suggest that a move for another former Amorim player, Sporting’s Morten Hjulmand, is out of the question. Other names who have been linked, such as Brighton’s Carlos Baleba and Brentford’s Frank Onyeka, would definitely be a better fit, as would long-term target Ederson of Atalanta.
Read more about the Manchester United First Team Squad for 2025/26 here
David Tully
David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World’s Football News Network.
