Bayern Munich announced the signing of Benfica’s Renato Sanches for a whopping €35 million. The youngster has been a part of Benfica since the age of 9 and has not been much known in the footballing world before this announcement. So here are some interesting facts about the highly-rated midfielder.
1) It’s not even a year since his debut
Sanches’ only 18, his value is off the roof and it’s not even been a year to his debut! He started training football at Águias da Musgueira at the age of 8 before joining S.L. Benfica’s youth academy in 2006, aged 9.
He made his professional debut for the B team in the 2014-15 campaign but his senior debut only came as recently as 30th October 2015, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute in a 4-0 victory against Tondela.
He has played a vital role in taking Benfica top of the Primeira Liga and to the quarterfinals of Champions League. Benfica currently sit at the top of their domestic table, 2 points clear of second placed Sporting.
2) Most duels-per-game won by a teenager
No teenager has a better duels-per-game ratio than him in the Champions League (7.17). He is a proper box to box dynamic midfielder, technically skilled and a very good tackler, making him a precious asset to any team.
Sanches has the best percentage of duels won by any outfield player of Benfica this season, recording an impressive 57%.
He has also completed the full 90 minutes in all six of his Champions League appearances and was prolific against Zenit, making a total of 8 tackles and completing four take-ons.
3) Youngest player to score a home goal for Benfica
Since his debut for Benfica’s first team, he has appeared in 91.67% of Benfica’s league games. His first goal for Benfica came in a 3-0 victory against Academica, scoring a stunner from 30 metres out!
It went on to win the Goal of the Month and made Sanches the youngest player of the 21st century to score a home goal for Benfica. He has scored only one other goal for Benfica which was a winner against Vitoria de Guimaraes in January 2016.
4) Cost Benfica just 25 footballs!
Benfica scouted the 9-year-old for just 15 minutes before deciding to offer him a place in their academy. It cost Benfica 25 footballs, to be given if he signed a professional contract, to complete his move from childhood club Águias da Musgueira.
They paid their dues in depth as they sent the club 50 footballs this October. Coincidentally, a similar deal was agreed for Cristiano Ronaldo when Andorinha were paid with two sets of kits and 20 footballs for the then 10-year-old.
5) National caps
He has already won 40 caps for Portugal, all youth categories combined. He represented Portugal in the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and helped them to reach the semi-finals.
Despite being just 18-years old, he was called-up on 18 March 2016 to play for the senior national team and has made 2 appearances since. He debuted for Portugal as a 76th-minute substitute in their 1-0 defeat to Bulgaria. He also featured in the friendly against Belgium coming on as a substitute right after half time.
6) Is a little hot headed
When it comes to discipline, it is not all merry for Sanches. While playing for Benfica B, he received 2 straight red cards in the 2014-15 season in a total of 24 appearances.
In all his 58 appearances for Benfica, both the first and the second teams, he has received 18 cards in total, 15 yellows, 2 straight reds and a red for picking up two bookings. The latter came in a match against Maritimo this Monday itself when he picked up the two yellows within just 37 minutes of the start of the game!
7) Third most expensive teenager
Bayern Munich shocked everyone by agreeing on a deal worth €35 million for this young starlet. While many may argue that it is too soon to be investing such an amount in a youngster, examples like Manchester United’s signing of Anthony Martial at the start of the season has shown otherwise.
This deal makes Renato Sanches the third most expensive teenager in world football’s history, only behind Luke Shaw (£30 million) and the most expensive teen yet, Anthony Martial, who, just like Shaw, moved to Manchester United, for an amount of £36 million.
8) Client of Jorge Mendes
Renato is a client of none other than super-agent Jorge Mendes. Jorge Mendes is known to have served many big names and talented prospects. His clientele includes the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho and David de Gea amongst others.
He was on the radar of Manchester United, Arsenal, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, this combined with the fact that he is managed by Mendes speaks about his potential.
Sanches has been tipped on to become one of the best midfielders of his generation in the years to come and surely will strengthen Bayern Munich’s squad to a great extent.
