Renato Sanches the next big thing?

Who is Renato Sanches and why are Europe’s top clubs interested in his services?

The man (or boy) of the moment Renato Júnior Luz Sanches was born 18 August 1997 and is originally from Cabo Verde. He has featured in 36 games for Benfica’s first team, scoring six goals from midfield, and is no doubt one of the hottest prospects in European football.

Manchester United were first to show an interest and hoped to conclude a deal in January that would see him move to Old Trafford in the summer, but now it seems as if Real Madrid are keen to enter the race for the highly talented midfielder, according to Sport. The likes of Barcelona, Arsenal and Bayern are also rumoured to be sniffing around also.

Florentino Perez is still waiting to see if Real can successfully push the transfer ban slapped on the club until after the summer, and if successful he will no doubt push a more forceful transfer policy than usual. Without being able to sign players for two transfer windows at least, the 18 year old Renato Sanches would fit the bill as one of the potential targets: young, talented, athletic and bags of potential. With that being said there will have to be a mini clearout in Madrid with some high profile players being linked with a move away, namely Ronaldo & Benzema. With these 2 players off the wage bill, and if you include the combined transfer fee received, this will put Europe’s top clubs on red alert that Los Blanco’s will be coming for their best players, with bucket loads of cash, as they look to establish a squad capable and sustaining a challenge for top honours over the year and a half time-frame they will be unable to make additions.

With Europe’s top teams taking notice of his fine form, Benfica were quick to sign the player to a new long-term deal, which runs until 2021 and includes a buyout clause of a staggering €80million.

You would this figure would be enough to put most off, but we all know what Florentino wants, he invariably gets. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out over the coming months.