Renato Sanches Inquiry Made by Chelsea Amid Bayern Munich Loan Talk

Chelsea have inquired after Bayern Munich's Renato Sanches with the hopes of landing him on loan. 

According to John Percy of the Daily Telegraph, Blues boss Antonio Conte held talks about the midfielder with compatriot and Bayern counterpart Carlo Ancelotti following the friendly between the two teams on Tuesday.

Munich have confirmed that to be the case, per Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol:

The German side are said to be receptive to the possibility of sending Sanches out on loan for the season, but the midfielder has also attracted interest from AC Milan.

Conte is hoping his late move will secure the 19-year-old.

He arrived at Bayern last summer amid widespread interest, including from Manchester United, in something of a coup for the Bundesliga champions, albeit the cost of his initial £30 million transfer could total £75 million, according to Percy.

The youngster had enjoyed a starring role at Benfica as a powerful and dynamic box-to-box midfielder, but he played just 903 minutes of football last year spread across 25 appearances in all competitions, only nine of which were starts.

With Tiemoue Bakayoko and N'Golo Kante likely to comprise Chelsea's first-choice central-midfield pairing next season and Cesc Fabregas also competing for game time, Sanches would have his work cut out for him to play a significant number of minutes at Stamford Bridge.

MailOnline's Charlie Skillen believes the Blues need more options in that area, though:

If Chelsea fulfil their ambitions of going deep in multiple competitions, Sanches should have some opportunities to showcase his talent, likely more than he had at Bayern last year.

The Portugal international struggled to make a case for a bigger role last season in his limited showings, but if he plays to his potential, he could work his way into Conte's plans as a regular, even if he isn't starting every week.

He'd also provide the manager with more options should he wish to change from his 3-4-3 system at any point.

The formation has yielded great dividends for Chelsea, helping them win the Premier League title last year, and Conte isn't likely to break from that winning formula. But anyone who could give him a viable alternative should he need one would surely be welcomed with open arms.