​João Palhinha is still trying to figure out his future as it’s been made clear he doesn’t really have a place in the Bayern Munich team under Vincent Kompany after spending a decent loan spell at Tottenham this past season.The North Londoners narrowly avoided relegation to the English Football Championship, but the Portuguese midfielder shone well for himself individually. Tottenham have already brought in Mateus Fernandes from West Ham United and Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United to help bolster their midfield under Roberto de Zerbi, and they made it clear they did not want to activate the buy-on clause at the end of Palhinha’s loan from Bayern.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRight now, a potential move back to Portugal is potentially on the cards for Palhinha. Sporting CP have shown some interest in bringing him back, but in the latest developments in the rumor mill, Benfica are considering the option of getting him on loan from Bayern with an option to buy, as per Bild (via @iMiaSanMia).For Benfica, they would not really be able to feasibly afford a permanent buy of Palhinha from Bayern, even if the midfielder were to agree to take a wage cut. This is one of the big reasons why they’re pushing for a loan deal with the option to buy at the end of the loan. He earns roughly 12 million euros per year on Bayern’s books, which is nearly double the top earner at Benfica currently makes. Rafa Silva currently earns around 5.3 million euros per year, so it would really have to bea substantial pay cut for the Portuguese club to be able to afford Palhinha on a permanent basis, whether it be now, or after a potential loan spell.At this point, while there is interest from Benfica in arranging a potential loan deal, there’s yet to have been any contact or communication with Bayern regarding the proposition. However, the German Rekordmeister have previously said they would want an offer of around €25m to sell Palhinha, so a loan deal with Benfica would more than likely have a buy-on fee similar to that figure if something does actually wind up materializing.Sign up for a user account and get:New, improved notifications system!Fewer adsCreate community postsComment on articles, community postsRec comments, community posts