The Portugal midfielder has just come off a second season in England.
He said from Portugal's Euros camp: "I knew it would happen sooner or later and the hardest part was leaving my family. My wife was pregnant... How was I going to get by? I focused on the field, and I was also a resourceful person.
"Today I'm happy, but whenever I can, I go to Portugal."
Palhinha also revealed he almost joining Benfica ahead of Sporting CP.
He said, "I was at that point where I didn't think things would happen. I was a first-year junior and there are few people who manage to reach a high level, without being in a big team. There was a game (playing for Sacavenense) in which coach Abel Ferreira (then Sporting's under-19 coach) hugged me, put his hand on my shoulder and said: 'Do you want to come and play with us in January?'
"I had two feelings. One when I said yes, a 'of course', and another later, when I thought I didn't want to go through the same disappointment I had at Benfica. At the time, I went to train at Seixal - at the time the coach was Bruno Lage - I trained well and created hope. I saw Bernardo Silva, João Cancelo and it created dreams that that place would also be mine. They didn't tell me anything else... When coach Abel invited me, there were still three or four months to go until January. Besides him, there was someone who played a very important role in this process, Mr Aurélio Pereira, who spoke to my parents.
"He was one of the great motivators, but also very sincere. He told me that I wouldn't play much in the first year, but things ended up going differently and I even went to train with the first team, with coach Jesualdo Ferreira.”