Renato Sanches' Age Questioned by Guy Roux After Bayern Munich Transfer

The emergence of Portugal starlet Renato Sanches has been one of the major storylines of Euro 2016, but veteran manager Guy Roux claimed the 18-year-old—who completed a move to Bayern Munich this summer—is actually "23 or 24." 

Speaking to Romanian broadcaster Dolce Sport, the ex-Auxerre boss of more than 40 years was certain Sanches hasn't been forthcoming about his age (h/t David F. Sanchidrian of AS): "He says that he is 18 years old, but I believe that we have to look at his past. His date of birth was declared years after he was born, so his registered date is not correct. I can assure you that he is 23 or 24."

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Sanchidrian added that Roux was referring to an investigation from Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias, which found Sanches' birthday, August 18, 1997, wasn't registered until 2002. However, it's since been found this was due to his parents splitting at a very young age.

The teenager broke through at Benfica last season in his first senior campaign but has stood as Portugal's gem thus far in the competition, as highlighted by Squawka after their quarter-final defeat of Poland:

CNN's James Masters hailed the youngster's confidence at the elite level after he converted his spot-kick in the penalty-shootout win against the Poles:

The youngster himself has addressed the rumours, per Desporto (h/t Sanchidrian), questioning how he could be so old when he was in the Eagles academy for a decade: "Not everything in football is good. There are those who love you and others who don't. I grew up in Portugal, I spent 10 years at Benfica, how can I be 25? There is no logic to what some people say."