Who is Portugal star Sanches?

Ahead of England’s friendly against Portugal, we profile the exciting 18-year-old midfielder Renato Sanches.

Sanches had reportedly been linked with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool in spring before a move to Bayern Munich last month.

Who exactly is the player who rose through the youth ranks at Benfica to become a regular starter for the Portuguese champions?

With a chance for England fans to see Sanches in action at Wembley, we take a look at the youngster…

Factfile

Name: Renato Sanches

Age: 18

Place of birth: Lisbon, Portugal

Position: Central midfielder

Background

Sanches is of Cape Verdean origin, but was born and raised in Lisbon. He joined Benfica’s prestigious academy aged nine and was able to work his way up to start for Benfica’s B team in October 2014 after turning 17 two months before.

After just one year with the club in the Portuguese second division, Sanches was called up to the senior squad in 2016, initially just for training purposes. However, on October 30 last year, he made his senior debut as a late substitute against Tondela.

Sanches’ rapid progress encouraged Benfica to hand him a new six-year deal in November, a contract that contained a release clause which would be triggered by an offer of £35m (€45m) – Bayern have paid an initial fee of £27.5m (€35m) for the midfielder.

Ever …

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