Scouting Notebook: What Has Happened to Renato Sanches Since Euro 2016?

“Modern football is littered with young talents who took the money, moved too soon and saw those delicate developmental years flushed out into a desiccating light.”

In April, the Guardian’s Barney Ronay pointed to the travails of Renato Sanches’ desperately disappointing 2016-17 season as a reason for the likes of Dele Alli—linked away from Tottenham Hotspur for big money at the time—to stay exactly where they are. If you’re progressing and developing at a rate of knots where you are, why change your scenery?

It’s a point Sanches surely wishes he considered a little more heavily in May 2016, when he swapped Benfica for Bayern Munich in a deal that, should objectives be met, will rise to an astonishing €80 million.

Back then, the Portuguese was on top of the world. After impressing his new employers with two stunning performances in the Champions League knockouts, then later stealing records from Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2016 as he helped Portugal win it, the teenager could label his 12-month rise one of the starkest in football history.

Zhong Zhi/Getty Images

Sadly, said rise can be matched in its velocity by his subsequent fall. Last season was a hellish nightmare for the youngster, who managed fewer than 1,000 minutes in all competitions for Bayern and fewer than 10 starts. He’s gone from key component in the Portuguese national side to missing the Confederations Cup squad and not even cracking the under-21 starting XI.

What went so wrong for Sanches has been the subject of much debate. Limited opportunities to shine are pointed to, and rightly so, but the counterpoint that he performed poorly when given them carries more weight. The Portuguese cannot point to a single good game he played last season, with the lowlights far more apposite when summarising his season.

“He looked lost in that Bayern midfield,” Bundesliga journalist Stefan Bienkowski told B/R. “He lacked any real cohesion with the team and just looked at complete odds with everyone else.”

Bayern’s 1-0 loss to Hoffenheim in April was, although largely irrelevant in the context of the league title race, dire for many reasons—and most notably for Sanches’ wretched individual showing. Given a rare start—his last had been against Atletico Madrid in December—he misplaced three passes in dangerous areas inside the first 15 minutes, two of which led to chances on goal.

Credit: Sky Sport

Five minutes later, things got a lot worse: Sanches practically stood and watched the man he was supposed to be marking, Andrej Kramaric, drift into the No. 10 space and collect a loose ball. The Portuguese only kicked into gear as he realised his foe was about to pull the trigger, and he couldn’t apply enough pressure to prevent a pearler hitting the back of the net a second later.

A failure to track runners is no new issue for Sanches. Even during his heady period as Benfica’s shining star, playing a combative, box-to-box role at the heart of an attacking 4-4-2 formation, this was an established issue of his. He was also prone to a sulk and a mini-strop when he was failing to get his teeth into proceedings.

Credit: Sky Sport

When things aren’t going his way, he overcomplicates. Two of his giveaways against Hoffenheim were because he chose an elaborate switch pass, rather than a simple ball. He’s probably trying to get himself going, make himself more involved, but it’s making things worse.

Sanches has gone from being the driving, physical force of Benfica’s midfield—beating players one-on-one, powering forward with the ball at his feet and smashing rasping long shots home—to being the least important cog in Bayern’s—if he even plays. Arturo Vidal takes the driving role, someone else the anchor role, leaving Sanches the bit in the middle—the supporting, mediating short game-focused bit.

This has highlighted slight technical deficiencies (control and passing accuracy) in his game. They’ve always been there, but they weren’t problems before because his role at Benfica allowed him to use his best attributes. It’s arguable that his role at Bayern does the opposite. And that’s the point that Sanches’ agent will be hammering home to potential new suitors.

Ziggo

If the Portuguese is to leave Bayern this summer, there are high-profile clubs willing to take him on. Milan are interested, though pricing is proving difficult, according to ESPN FC, and the Telegraph report Chelsea have made their admiration known while out in Singapore.

Interest remains because a Sanches used properly can still be a devastating prospect on the pitch. Unleash him to his full potential, allowing him to roam the pitch and use his physicality to get the better of markers, and he’ll drive you forward, score goals and make the difference.

Don’t let one wasted year in Germany allow you to forget the game-breaking ability he displayed in 2015-16. It’s all still there, dormant, just waiting to be brought back to the fore in the right setting.

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