Aston Villa have missed out on João Palhinha after Benfica reached a verbal agreement with Bayern Munich for the midfielder, with Fabrizio Romano giving the deal his trademark “here we go”.
Villa had spent several weeks attempting to bring the Portugal international back to the Premier League and publicly confirmed negotiations with Bayern earlier this month.
However, Palhinha has now given Benfica the green light to complete his return to Portugal, bringing Villa’s pursuit to an end.
Romano reports that the agreement is worth €14million plus up to €5million in add-ons, with documents expected to be exchanged within the next 24 hours.
Aston Villa João Palhinha transfer is now off
The development represents a decisive change after Villa had remained firmly involved in negotiations.
Read Aston Villa previously reported that director of football operations Damian Vidagany had publicly confirmed talks with Bayern, with Palhinha described by the Villa chief as a player capable of fitting Unai Emery’s plans.
Villa had explored a different structure to Benfica.
Their preference had been a loan containing an option to buy, while Bayern consistently pushed for a permanent sale.
Benfica have now found the formula required to reach an agreement.
Portuguese reporting had initially placed the deal at €15million plus another €5million dependent on targets, while Romano’s subsequent update gave the structure as €14million fixed with up to €5million in bonuses.
Palhinha has also approved the move and is ready to return to Portugal.
For Villa, the consequence extends beyond simply losing one transfer target.
Emery still needs additional midfield depth after Amadou Onana’s long-term injury, while Read Aston Villa has previously examined how Palhinha could have changed João Gomes’ role.
That option has now disappeared.
Villa must instead turn elsewhere if they still intend to add another defensive midfielder before the transfer window closes.
After weeks of negotiations and several changes in the race, Palhinha is heading for Benfica and Villa’s pursuit is over.
