How can João Palhinha improve Bayern Munich?

Bayern Munich’s abundance of riches in attack often resulted in impressive scorelines last season, misleadingly papering over the cracks in other areas of the team. On some occasions, when the attack wasn’t at its scintillating best, those deficiencies resulted in embarrassing losses. One constant in the losses was a disconnect between midfield and defense, leaving gaps for the opposition to exploit.

Former Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel was intent on acquiring the services of a specialist defensive midfielder before the start of last season. That plan almost came to fruition in the form of João Palhinha. However, the deal fell through on deadline day because Fulham failed to acquire a suitable replacement.

One year later, with Palhinha still desirous of a move to Bayern Munich, Tuchel’s replacement Vincent Kompany saw similar value in the player. After lengthy negotiations between the two clubs, the transfer was completed ahead of the 2024/25 season for a fee in the vicinity of €50 million plus five million in bonuses, with Paulinha putting pen to paper on a four-year contract. Let us look at how well the 29-year-old Portuguese international fits the bill at Bayern Munich.