In July 2022, he was signed by Premier League side Fulham for £20 million, spending two seasons with the club and helping them achieve mid-table finishes in both.

[3] He played his first game as a professional with the B team, coming on as a late substitute for fellow youth graduate Iuri Medeiros in a 3−2 home win against Portimonense in the Segunda Liga, on 3 February 2014;[4] it was one of only two appearances during the season.

[5] From July 2015 to January 2017, Palhinha was loaned to Primeira Liga sides Moreirense[6] and Belenenses, respectively,[7] making his debut in the competition whilst with the former in a 0−2 home loss to Arouca where he played 22 minutes from the bench.

[10] Subsequently, returning to the Estádio José Alvalade,[11] Palhinha made his competitive debut with the first team on 21 January 2017, starting in a 2−2 draw at Marítimo.

[17] Having returned from his loan at Braga, Palhinha wanted to play in a different league, and thus started the 2020–21 campaign training on his own in the midst of negotiations with Al Nassr and CSKA Moscow.

Shortly after, the Court of Arbitration for Sport annulled the automatic sanction of the punishment but did not remove the booking based on the admission of referee Fábio Veríssimo that he had made a mistake, and ended the season without serving the ban.

The Portuguese Football Federation took the case to CACS, and the latter's appeal was ultimately accepted given the "absence of CAS jurisdiction to assess and decide on the issue of committing the foreseen infraction", revoking the annulment; the decision was confirmed by the Portuguese Supreme Administrative Court after an appeal filed by Palhinha, who unanimously decided that this body lacked jurisdiction.

[31] In 2021–22, still under Amorim, Palhinha began facing stiff competition from newly signed Manuel Ugarte, with various injury issues limiting his time and his tackles also reduced compared to the previous season.

[34] In total, he played 95 official games during his spell, scoring seven times and winning a national championship, two League Cups and a Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.

[72][73][74] Described as an astute ball-winning midfielder, he is especially aggressive in stopping counter-attacks early by lunging into challenges, often preferring slide tackles in order to maximise his radius.

[79][80][75][34] During his spell at Fulham, Palhinha registered a passing average of 81.5%, his presence helping his team in transition, timing his challenges to secure possession while enabling counter-attacks.

[81][82][34] Many pundits consider Palhinha to be one of the best defensive midfielders in world football, with former player Rio Ferdinand being impressed with his first season at Fulham stating that he had "been sensational" [...] and a team "need someone like that in front of a defender".

[84] In March 2023, Fulham manager Marco Silva stated that Palhinha "was an important player in so many moments of the game as well as at set-pieces, due to covering many spaces and allowing the other midfielders to create more freedom.