Renato Sanches – Swansea City Provides Perfect Opportunity

Manuel Veth –

Renato Sanches is leaving Bayern München and joining the English Premier League side Swansea City on loan for one season. The Swans will pay €8.5 million to loan Renato Sanches the Swans do, however, not have an option to buy the midfielder.

The deal is the best-case scenario for all three sides. Renato Sanches will receive much needed playing time at a club that thanks to Swansea manager Paul Clement’s close connection to Carlo Ancelotti follows a similar playing philosophy than Bayern.

Receiving €8.5 million for Renato Sanches now will mean that Bayern have already recuperated some of the money spent on the midfielder last season. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told the German media on Wednesday that the Bavarians were extremely happy with this deal.

Renato Sanches is now off to Swansea City. (Photo by Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images for MAN)

The decision makers at FC Hollywood believe that Sanches will finally receive the playing time needed to fulfil the promise that he had shown with Benfica Lisbon and the Portuguese national team at the European Championships in France. Rummenigge said to the media: “We were adamant that Renato Sanches would go to a club where he can play on a top level and where he has a coach, who banks on him.”

Bayern had Some Reservations About Sending Renato Sanches on Loan to Great Britain

Bayern originally had some reservations about sending Renato Sanches on loan to the United Kingdom. Top clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United, which both voiced their interest in signing the player on loan this season, were deemed too much of a risk for Sanches’ development. The bosses at Bayern were worried that like it was the case at Bayern Renato Sanches would not receive enough playing time.

Other options included lower clubs in the English Premier League and also AS Roma. Here the problem was playing style. Neither Roma nor some of the smaller Premier League sides were considered compatible with Bayern’s football philosophy. Bayern, therefore, favoured a loan deal within the Bundesliga, but very few Bundesliga sides expressed an interest in signing the Portuguese midfielder.

https://twitter.com/SquawkaNews/status/903015678948642823

One issue was that some of the smaller teams did not feel ready to integrate a young star and at the same time battle for points in the Bundesliga. Another issue has been that some clubs were unwilling to train a player for Bayern’s squad.

With all those options off the table, the likeliest scenario was that Renato Sanches would stay in Munich. This changed when Clement got into contact with Ancelotti. The two coaches have of course worked together for years, and Clement was part of Bayern’s coaching staff until he took over as the manager of Swansea City in January 2017.

Swansea Deal is Perfect for all Sides Involved

The excellent contact between Clement and Ancelotti now means that Bayern can keep a close tap on Renato Sanches development. It also shows that Bayern are still adamant in their belief that the Portuguese midfielder could become a world class player—speaking to kicker just a few weeks ago Uli Hoeneß voiced his belief that Renato Sanches needs first team football and time to mature. He will now get both at Swansea.

In fact, Swansea might become the perfect stepping stone for a positive return to Munich. The Swans are one of the smallest clubs in the Premier League but have survived by being a bit different in their football philosophy. Like Southampton Swansea like to develop and play young players. The club also liked to play a cultivated style possession based type of football. In recent years they have gone a bit off on the philosophy and Clement was brought in with an eye of returning Swansea to a sort of football club that is pleasing on the eye.

Renato Sanches. Bayern still believe that he can have a great future at the club. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

That should suit Sanches well in his preparation to return to Bayern München next season. Initially, the club had targeted the likes of Naby Keïta and Leon Goretzka to bring more flair to the central midfield next season. Liverpool, however, have moved fast to ensure that no-one will beat them to Keïta’s exit clause next summer surprising the Bavarian giants. Goretzka’s transfer in the meantime is far from being done, and there is even a small chance he could stay in Gelsenkirchen.

It would, therefore, be the best for Renato Sanches to make the most out of his loan deal at Swansea, because the door could be open for him to play a significant role for the Bavarians after next summer. Bayern in the meantime have had good experience with loan deals as the likes of Toni Kroos, David Alaba and Philipp Lahm all went out on a loan spell before having an impact in Munich. Renato Sanches is now scheduled to become the next big name on that illustrate list.

Manuel Veth is a freelance journalist and social media junior editor at Bundesliga.com. He is also a holder of a Doctorate of Philosophy in History from King’s College London, and his thesis is titled: “Selling the People’s Game: Football’s transition from Communism to Capitalism in the Soviet Union and its Successor States,” which will be available in print soon. Originally from Munich, Manuel has lived in Amsterdam, Kyiv, Moscow, Tbilisi, London, and currently is located in Victoria BC, Canada.  Follow Manuel on Twitter @ManuelVeth.