Manchester United Transfer News: Renato Sanches Move Discussed by Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich took advantage of managerial uncertainty at Manchester United in order to sign Renato Sanches from Benfica in May, according to the German champions' chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. 

United were widely rumoured to be negotiating for Sanches and were reportedly "close" to agreeing terms before Jose Mourinho replaced Louis van Gaal as Red Devils boss in the summer, per Portuguese outlet A Bola (via James Cambridge in the Express).

However, it was Bayern who eventually signed the young midfielder, now 19, for an initial €35 million (£29.8 million), with Rummenigge revealing the club "reacted quickly" when United couldn't immediately complete, and the Bundesliga side sealed the deal around the time of their UEFA Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid, per Sport Bild (via Mark Lovell on ESPN FC).

"We knew very well that Renato had a firm offer from Manchester United," said Rummenigge. "I heard that the United deal couldn't be completed, as they didn't know who their next manager would be. We invited Benfica's president and Sanches' agent to Madrid and that night we shook hands on the transfer."

Alreadytouted as one of Europe's most exciting young talents, Sanches starred for Portugal as they won Euro 2016 in the summer, showing great maturity at the highest level and receiving an individual award for his contribution, per UEFA Euro:

He made his debut for Bayern in the Bundesliga against Schalke on Friday and disappointed, per Lovell.

But he was under huge amounts of pressure given how anticipated his first appearance was, and he will undoubtedly find form once he adapts to the Bundesliga, per Bundesliga expert Cristian Nyari:

At the time, it was a significant blow for United that they had missed out on the youngster as they were in need of greater quality and inspiration in central midfield.

As an alternative, though, they brought in 23-year-old Paul Pogba from Juventus for a world-record fee of £89 million—a bold statement if ever there was one.

As with Sanches, Pogba has yet to find his groove at his new team, but the Frenchman is a more established talent than his young Portuguese counterpart and is likely to find his form more quickly.

As proved by Mourinho when he did finally step into the top job at United, all the club needed was instruction and stability in the transfer market.

The Red Devils eventually signed Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the summer transfer window, softening the blow of Bayern pipping them to Sanches.