Liverpool have been linked with Portuguese international and Lille star Renato Sanches for quite some time and the latest reports going on in the media suggest that the Reds are keen and could finally agree his signing this summer.
Back in December last year, the Merseysiders made contact with renowned agent, Jorge Mendes, to inquire about bringing Sanches to Anfield (Italian outlet La Gazzetta Dello Sport). However, the player ended up staying at Lille.
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Now, the Reds badly need an energetic midfielder to replace Dutch international Wijnaldum, who decided to move to PSG, and once again, the Seleccao star is in the focus.
According to Italian journalist Rudi Galetti, Liverpool’s prime target to replace Gini at the club is Sanches and he is valued at around 40 million euros (£34.2million).
On the other hand, as per a story covered by L’Equipe (via Sport Witness) today, Liverpool are very interested in signing the 23-year-old central midfielder, who could end up agreeing a move to Anfield this summer. It is stated that even Arsenal are looking to lure the 30-capped international.
Sanches rose to fame at the European Championships in 2016. The then-teenager was a key member of the Portuguese squad that went on to win the tournament under the management of Andre Santos.
Moreover, he also put in impressive performances at Euro 2020, particularly vs France, when he dominated the midfield battle against world-class players like Kante and Pogba. Portugal were unable to retain their title and were ousted by Belgium in the Round of 16.
The dilemma is that the young midfielder has not been able to emulate his national form at the club level. He was mainly a bench warmer in Germany with Bayern, flopped big time on loan in the Premier League with Swansea and only started 14 games (injury-hit) in Lille’s title-winning Ligue 1 campaign last term.
In such a scenario, luring Renato Sanches to replace Wijnaldum might be a gamble because the Netherlands star was consistent and, more importantly, fully fit for us.
