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What’s the story?
Liverpool have opened talks with Bayern Munich for Renato Sanches as per reports in the Express. The Reds want him as the replacement for Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian midfielder is forcing a move to Barcelona despite the club not willing to sell him. Jurgen Klopp has now reportedly lost his patience with the Liverpool star and has started hunting for replacements.
Spanish outlet, SPORT, also report that Liverpool have made a move to sign Renato Sanches. The Portuguese international sat out on Bayern Munich's clash against Werder Bremen on Saturday to discuss the transfer as per the report.
In case you didn’t know...
Liverpool have been trying to block Barcelona's move for Philippe Coutinho this summer. The Spanish club, however, are refusing to back down and are submitting one bid after the other.
Liverpool have been knocking back all negotiations and also rejecting every single bid sent by the Catalan side. They even released a statement stating that they will not be listening to any offers for the Brazilian.
The club, however, was shocked to its core when Coutinho handed in a transfer request via email just hours after this statement was released. The club immediately rejected it but the player has not featured for them ever since.
The heart of the matter
Liverpool were keen on signing Sanches earlier this summer and were in active talks with Bayern Munich. The German side were open to loaning him out but the midfielder's impressive performance in the pre-season changed the mind of Carlo Ancelotti.
Chelsea too were interested in signing him but are no longer in the race.
What’s next?
Liverpool might eventually end up selling Coutinho by the end of this transfer window. However, they might not settle for anything less than 150 million.
As for Sanches, moving to Liverpool would be one of the best options right now. He'll get to play regularly and also get back his form.
Author’s Take
Renato Sanches is a talented midfielder and has all the qualities of becoming a top player. People keep forgetting that he's just 19-years-old and needs some more time to adapt to the big stage.
He's already won the EURO and Bundesliga in his career and has impressed whenever given a chance. He was benched more often than not last season at Bayern Munich but that was only because Xabi Alonso was starting ahead of him.
