Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno has praised teammate Joao Palhinha for his reaction to his failed move to Bayern Munich, even if he does worry it’s still lingering in the back of the midfielder’s mind.
The German has been speaking to BILD regarding life at Fulham, his plans for the future and the transfer drama around his teammate in the summer.
Palhinha had found himself at the top of Bayern’s wishlist after an impressive year at Fulham and appeared set for a move to Bavaria when a deal was agreed. He even flew to complete medical tests and even do media work for Bayern.
However, he saw the deal collapse on deadline day in the summer when Fulham refused to sanction the transfer as they had failed to find a suitable replacement for him.
Rather than dwelling on the matter, though, he instead returned to Fulham and signed a new deal at the club before kicking on and continuing where he left off last season.
That’s not often an approach we see from footballers in the modern game when they don’t get their own way, and Leno is keen to praise his teammate for bucking the trend.
“Joao was already in Munich, everything seemed safe. In the end it didn’t work out because we couldn’t find a replacement,” he said.
“Joao was very impressed with FC Bayern, how nice everyone was, how well organised it was. He would have liked to experience this adventure and was already disappointed afterwards.
“Joao didn’t let himself down, he did a great job and immediately went full throttle again. The fans were completely behind him, he put his heart and soul into it.
“If Bayern still want him, I can imagine that it is still in the back of Joao’s mind.”
