At a glance:
- Tottenham want to keep Joao Palhinha
- He is open to staying even if they get relegated
- Roberto De Zerbi said he loves Palhinha
Tottenham Hotspur have managed to win two games in a row after beating Wolves and Aston Villa away in the Premier League.
While their English top-flight future hangs in the balance, Spurs have shown some grit and confidence under Roberto De Zerbi in the last four games. They are unbeaten in their last three and sit one point above West Ham.
The north London side are also looking towards the summer transfer window to strengthen their squad. They also have to make some decisions regarding departures, especially the loan players.
Joao Palhinha is willing to stay at Tottenham next season
Surprisingly, one of Spurs’ heroes in the last few games has been Joao Palhinha. He scored in their 1-0 win over Wolves away, before putting in a brilliant performance in their 2-1 win over Aston Villa. It was arguably his best performance for the club, despite having scored before.
Tottenham are open to signing Palhinha permanently after his loan spell from Bayern Munich expires this summer. Journalist Ben Jacobs has reported that the Portuguese midfielder is open to staying even if Spurs get relegated. He told GiveMeSport:
“He [Palhinha] wants to stay, and that will likely also be the case, even if Tottenham go down, because Palhinha’s move to Tottenham was about returning to England. It was about being in London.”
“There’s family reasons why he wants to stay too. So Tottenham can feel very in control of that situation, because Palhinha doesn’t, I’m told, fall into the category of a player that will just want to jump ship.”
Also Read: Tottenham leading race for midfielder despite ‘multi-million-dollar bidding war’
Palhinha’s buy option is reportedly around £27 million. However, Spurs will look to re-negotiate it, with Bayern willing to let him leave as well.
De Zerbi lauded Palhinha’s performance against Aston Villa
Normally, one wouldn’t associate a player like Palhinha with a De Zerbi playing style. While the Portuguese is a tackle-first midfielder, the Italian prefers highly technical, pass-first players all across the pitch.
However, Palhinha was excellent against Villa even on the ball. De Zerbi also praised him after the game, saying (h/t Football.London):
“Yeah, I love Palhinha like this. No, no, they have not to follow me in this [players celebrating like him], but if I saw one player like passionate, I become crazy.”
Palhinha has made 42 appearances across competitions for Spurs, scoring six goals and providing three assists. He has, shockingly, scored two overhead kicks for Spurs this season and single-handedly earned them four points against Wolves.
Also Read: Tim Sherwood lauds Tottenham player who would ‘tackle his grandma’ to win a ball
For all his deficiencies, Palhinha does bring a lot of passion and experience to the squad. Moreover, if De Zerbi wants to keep him, Tottenham must back the Italian head coach.
