Star Prem midfielder wanted late summer Man Utd move, but Euro giant switch remains on | OneFootball

Joao Palhinha wiping sweat with his shirt

Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha reportedly wanted to join Manchester United in the summer, despite agreeing to join Bayern Munich on deadline day, in a move which his brother says was only “postponed”.

Palhinha’s deadline day was one of the more eventful ones a player can have. It wasn’t quite Peter Odemwingie driving to Queens Park Rangers’ ground in order to force a move, but it wasn’t far away from Hakim Ziyech being left stranded in Paris after a move to Pairs Saint-Germain fell through.

Indeed, Fulham agreed to sell Palhinha to Bayern Munich on the final day of the transfer window, allowing him to fly to Germany in order to complete the move once they had found a suitable replacement.

However, despite getting in contact with Manchester United regarding a move for Scott McTominay, they weren’t able to sign him, and Palhinha therefore had to head back to Craven Cottage after completing his medical and media duties with Bayern, remaining a Fulham player.

It’s now been revealed that he wanted to go to another big side. Indeed, The Athletic states Man Utd were tracking the Portuguese, and he wanted to sign for them, though they instead landed Sofyan Amrabat.

While Palhinha’s focus would seemingly have been on Bayern as it’s been suggested he was “convinced” he was going to be moving there, he apparently had an eye on Old Trafford, too.

While it seems he was keen on both moves, one has a chance of still going through. Quoted by the Daily Mail, Palhinha’s brother said Fulham “didn’t kill the dream, they only postponed it”, when talking about his move to Bayern.

While it’s all very confusing in regards to who he actually wanted to play for, that his brother states moving to the Bundesliga giants was a dream suggests they were top of Palhinha’s list.

Perhaps he simply wanted to make a move to a big club and wasn’t all too bothered which one it was, having heard about interest from two of Europe’s biggest sides.

In any case, his brother suggests there’s a chance of the Fulham man moving to Bayern at a later date, after his move to the club fell through late in the transfer window.