LAST UPDATE | 23 Aug 2019
BAYERN MUNICH’S UNSETTLED Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches has completed a reported €25 million move to Lille days after bemoaning Bayern Munich’s apparent refusal to sell him.
Portugal international Sanches looked one of world football’s most exciting talents when he starred on the big stage at Euro 2016, earning a lucrative transfer from Benfica to Bayern.
But the 22-year-old failed to impress in Germany, also enduring with an unsuccessful loan in the Premier League with Swansea City, and appeared set to depart in this transfer window.
Sanches suggested he was happy to stay during the close season but repeated his desire for more minutes and then aired frustrations when he came off the bench for five minutes in the Bundesliga opener against Hertha Berlin.
The midfielder said Bayern twice prevented him from leaving, yet he has now been allowed to move on, signing for Lille on a five-year contract after arriving in France on Friday.
🔴LOSC are thrilled to announce the signing of Portugal international midfielder Renato Sanches from Bayern Munich on a five-year deal ! pic.twitter.com/QQOVoz19Rl
— LOSC Lille EN (@LOSC_EN) August 23, 2019
“Renato Sanches asked us to transfer because he wanted to join a club where he would like more games,” said Bayern’s chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
“Unfortunately, we could not guarantee him this at Bayern. Match practice is also important to him because he wants to claim his place in the Portuguese national team for Euro 2020.
“I would like to thank Renato for his achievements and wish him all the best for his future on behalf of Bayern.”
Lille finished second in Ligue 1 last season, qualifying for the Champions League, but lost star man Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal.
“My wish was to join Lille so I’m really happy to be here,” Sanches told Lille’s official website. “I was very well received and I hope everything will be fine for me.
“I have been in contact with [sporting director] Luis Campos for a long time already. His words and the project they carry with [president] Gerard Lopez convinced me, as did the confidence they show in me.
“I talked a lot with Jose Fonte, I always got on well with him. I do not know all my other team-mates well, but I cannot wait to meet them all. Go LOSC!”
- Omni
Murray joins Bernard and Gavan with all the latest from training camp in Portugal, including a concerning update on Joey Carbery’s fitness. Plus, BBC Scotland’s Tom English explains why the Scots have a negative perception of Joe Schmidt’s Ireland team.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
He has plenty of heart but not much up stairs I’d say
Well he knocked on anyways…
Its a pity its a stack of bricks and not a real wall. Sad bastids .
There’s more sense in one of those bricks.
A lot of rugby players could do that, but they choose not to.
He’s in for some shock when he tries it on the pitch and his opponent moves.
Paul o Connell tried that but the bricks moved when they say him coming!
Straya..
Ferris would have atomised those bricks
That’s just sad
Didn’t get low
That is truly terrible, I don’t know why this is on the 42 it’s so stupid
Aussie boneheads
What a gobsh*te…he even spilled possession in the contact !