Renato Sanches arrived at LOSC Lille last summer to much fanfare, and the Portugal international — star of UEFA EURO 2016 — is now beginning to show what all the fuss was about.
Back story
Born in Amadora in Lisbon’s northwest suburbs to a father from Sao Tome and Principe and a Cape Verde mother, Renato’s potential was spotted by Benfica when he was just nine, signing him up for €750 and 25 footballs. By 2015, he was training with the first team, and soon made his senior debut.
Two goals in 24 league games that season earned him a place in the Portugal team that dominated Europe in France in 2016 and a switch to Bayern Munich that should have seen him continue his breakneck upward trajectory. But competing with established stars like Arturo Vidal, Xabi Alonso and Thiago Alcantara took its toll on the teenager, who claimed a Bundesliga winner’s medal in his first season but started just four league games.
A loan move to English Premier League side Swansea City proved just as problematic with injury striking and form deserting him, while his return to Bayern in 2018/19 initially promised much only to fade disappointingly, prompting LOSC to offer him the opportunity to reignite his career in northern France.
WATCH: Renato Sanches first Ligue 1 goal
Style of play
“He has skills you don’t see every day in the Bundesliga, that’s why Bayern signed him,” said Sanches’ former boss at the German champions, Niko Kovac. Those skills were in evidence in 2016 as he ran roughshod over opponents. His muscular frame allied with pace, uncanny ball control, passing ability and a blockbuster shot means the now 22-year-old is the complete midfielder with both the industry to get from box-to-box and the inspiration to have an impact on the game when he gets near the opposition goal.
Current campaign
Faced with a new language and a new culture, Sanches’ 2019/20 was initially a slow burner. Signed relatively late in the transfer window, he made his Ligue 1 Conforama debut in the 2-0 defeat at Reims in Week 4, and dipped in and out of the side before a hamstring injury in early October sidelined him for a month. The time on the treatment table seems to have done him good as he has started LOSC’s last four matches — all wins — and netted his first league goal in France to secure all three points at home to Montpellier Hérault SC in Week 18.
What you didn’t know
Sanches’ father left Portugal to work in France when his son was still an infant, so his birth was not registered with authorities until some five years after he was born.
What he said
“It’s just what I usually do. Picking up the ball and driving forward with it is one of my strengths.” After a Man of the Match performance at EURO 2016
“I spoke a lot to José Fonte. I’ve always gotten on well with him.” After signing for LOSC
What they said
“It doesn’t mattter what his age is. When he gets on the pitch, he brings a lot of intensity” Ex-Monaco and Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho at EURO 2016
“Pressure? He’s immune” Former Portugal boss Fernando Santos
“Renato loves to take the game forward, just like Clarence Seedorf. He has an unbelievable maturity for his age.” Ex-Netherlands international striker Pierre van Hooijdonk
“He has a strong shot and good vision for someone in his position.” Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone
>> PLAYER PROFILE: Renato Sanches