Arsenal have continued to fortify their squad ahead of the 2025/26 season with serious negotiations to sign Bayern Munich midfielder Joao Palhinha, Softfootball reports.
The former Fulham midfielder have struggled for game time since making his big money switch to the Bundesliga.
According to Metro UK, the Gunners are keen on the midfielder despite already signing Christian Norgaard from Brentford and Martin Zubimendi in the same position following the exits of Thomas Partey and Jorginho.
The Gunners expressed strong interest in Palhinha before Bayern got their Club World Cup campaign up and running. Mikel Arteta is pushing the club to get the player to join the squad for pre-season.
The report claims that concrete figures have been discussed between Arsenal and Bayern Munich with a view to luring Palhinha back to Premier League football.
No agreements has been reached by both sides as negotiations continue.
Interestingly, Inter Milan are also monitoring Palhinha’s situation with the Bavarians and there have been other offers from England, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Portugal in recent weeks.
However, Palhinha remains keen for a successful career at Bayern Munich, but a good offer from title chasing Arsenal may help Palhinha chance his mind about staying in Germany without getting game-time.
Palhinha moved to Bayern for £47.4 million last season but has been plagued by injury problems across a frustrating debut season with the Bundesliga champions.
He is currently competing for game-time in Bayern’s midfield with Leon Goretzka, Aleks Pavlovic, Joshua Kimmich, Konrad Laimer and new signing Tom Bischof.
Softfootball reported previously that Jamal Musiala got injured and possibly out for four months. The Bavarians will need to get a replacement and selling Palhinha may help them raise funds to sign the likes of Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace that they have been recently linked with.
Arsenal have so far signed Martin Zubimendi, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Christian Norgaard and agreed deals for Valencia’s Cristhian Mosquera, Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres and Chelsea’s Noni Madueke.
