Bayern Munich have finally secured the signing of Portugal international midfielder João Palinha.

The Bavarians have landed Palinha, who has long been a transfer target. “Munich have agreed to sign Fulham midfielder João Palinha for £42.3 million, with an option for a further £4.2 million, making it the highest transfer fee in Fulham’s history,” the BBC reported on Wednesday.

Florian Plettenberg, who works for Sky Sports in Germany and is one of the most knowledgeable journalists on the ground in Munich and elsewhere in Germany, also tweeted on social media on the 3rd: “Palinha is moving to Munich. Almost everything has been finalized. Only the smallest details remain to be finalized between Munich and Fulham.”

For Munich, it’s been almost a year since they finally got their hands on Palinha. During the summer transfer window, Munich were keen to sign Palinha as a key part of their midfield reinforcements, and while they had completed personal talks with the player as well as a deal with Fulham, the deal fell through at the transfer deadline due to time taken to finalize details. After a somewhat bizarre outcome, the club moved quickly to bring in Palinha this transfer window.

The move came sooner than expected. The move comes just as Palinha is set to represent Portugal at Euro 2024, where they are set to face France in the quarterfinals.

Palinha, who joined Fulham from Sporting Lisbon in 2022 for around £17 million, was a standout performer at Fulham, being named the club’s Player of the Year in his first season. In two seasons at Fulham, Palinha has played a pivotal role in the team, scoring eight goals in 79 appearances.

During the same period, Fulham also established themselves in the Premier League, and Palinha began to be categorized as a top 19가이드 midfielder in the league. Palinha’s status with the Portugal national team continues to grow as well.

The addition of Palinha will bolster Munich’s midfield, which has seen a significant decline in its ability to protect the defense in recent years due to aging. Munich have been heavily linked with the departure of several of the club’s veteran midfielders ahead of next season, including Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich. The symbols of the Munich team struggled last season, shuffling between positions as their form dipped.

Given that Palinha’s strengths lie in protecting the back line and orchestrating the midfield, he should be able to break into the starting lineup quickly. The arrival of Palinha follows the signing of Japanese defensive multi-talent Hiroki Ito, and the Bavarians are looking to bolster a position of weakness.

In addition to Palinha’s arrival, the Bavarians are also close to signing Michael Oliseh, last season’s ace at Crystal Palace in the Premier League, as well as center-back reserve Jonathan Tah, who helped Bayer Leverkusen to an unbeaten title.

The news of the move comes shortly after Fulham boss Marco Silva rejected a big-money move to Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad. Fulham are preparing to bring in new players to fill the void left by Palinha, and plan to use the transfer revenue to significantly strengthen their squad.