João Palhinha on his lack of playing time at Bayern Munich: “I know that my time at FC Bayern will come…I’m fighting to get my chance.”

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·9 October 2024

João Palhinha on his lack of playing time at Bayern Munich: “I know that my time at FC Bayern will come…I’m fighting to get my chance.”

Speaking to Sport Bild (via @iMiaSanMia), Bayern Munich midfielder João Palhinha has spoken out about his lack of game time at the club.

Since joining from Fulham in the summer for €51m, the Portuguese international has only started one game against Holstein Kiel and has come off the bench in five of them. On his lack of playing time at the club, Palhinha said:

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“I know that my time at FC Bayern will come. That’s why I’m working hard every day – I’m fighting to get my chance. To be honest, I’m not interested in the talk about whether I’m losing patience. What is said or interpreted from outside is not important. I’m at this big club because I believe in myself. There have been many times in my career where things like this have been said: ‘will he make it? Will he get game time?’ – we’re just at the beginning. There’s a saying for that in Portugal, which is a motto for me. It’s not about how it begins, it’s about how it ends. I’m just concentrating on my work, on the training sessions. I’m ready. Whether I play for 90, 45 or just five minutes: I will fight for every moment.”

Palhinha was a long-term target for Bayern under Thomas Tuchel but a move in the summer of 2023 failed at the last minute, despite the change of coach to Vincent Kompany, Palhinha still moved to the Allianz Arena. On his relationship with Kompany, Palhinha said:

“He’s a coach of the new generation. What sets his work apart is that he has a good relationship with each and every one of us. This is important for the team spirit, no one feels left alone. The coach always has an open ear for us and is close to us. It’s important to feel that in order to be able to understand his ideas quicker. I’m very happy with Vinnie”

In the first part of the season, Kompany has preferred a midfield duo of Joshua Kimmich and Aleksandar Pavlovic with Konrad Laimer also being brought in at times.

The fact that Palhinha, who is also more defensively minded, has not been trusted in certain games such as Frankfurt where he only saw the pitch for the final three minutes as die Adler equalised, does show how Kompany feels about the 29-year-old despite the fact that Palhinha may have helped alleviate the situation which Bayern conceded from.

GGFN | Jack Meenan