As Fulham star João Palhinha today held a press conference at the national team camp, Portuguese journalists brought back a subject from the summer.
That’s obviously the failed transfer to Bayern Munich, with the local press asking whether that affected him, and if that was postponed for the upcoming windows.
Palhinha didn’t mind talking about it, and gave quite a long answer about his stay at Fulham. The quotes come from O Jogo.
“I don’t know what will happen in the future. Obviously it’s really affected me and my family, but that’s all in the past, I don’t want to think about it too much. It’s a great source of pride, you know what happened. In my life everything that has happened has been for a reason, I like to think of it like that,” said Palhinha, insisting there’s still a lot of time for him to shine.
“The future will tell me whether what happened was really what had to happen or not, but only the future will show me that. I want to keep going the way I’ve been going, nobody has given me anything throughout my career, everything I’ve achieved is down to my worth, my work. I hope it stays that way. I’m 28, but I know I can go higher and I’m looking to the future with that ambition.”
Portugal are already qualified for the Euros, and that’s why the local media isn’t putting any pressure on the national team during press conferences. In the current international break, they’ll play Liechtenstein and Iceland in the final two rounds of the qualifiers.
Palhinha ended up renewing his contract with Fulham following the failed move to Bayern Munich, and is now committed to the Whites until 2028, with an option for a further year. His market price on Transfermarkt has only been going up, as the website now has it at €55m.
