Euro 2016: Portugal's Renato Sanches accused of faking his age
Bayern Munich’s new signing, the 18-year-old Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches has recently been accused of being six years older than he claims. Guy Roux the ex-manager of AJ Auxerre claimed that Renato Sanches is actually 24 years old speaking to Dolce Sport on Tuesday evening.
Guy Roux stated "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". French media house, AS backs Roux’s claim stating that Portuguese national newspaper Jornal de Noticias who conducted an official investigation of the issue and found that the player’s date of birth which is August 18, 1997 was not registered until 2002.
The late registration was apparently caused by Renato’s parents splitting up when he was just five months old. After the split, Renato’s father went to France and only returned in 2002 when he registered his date of birth.
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As also claims that Roux’s statements are not the only such instance. During Renato’s days at Benfica, the President of Sporting Bruno de Carvalho had also accused Renato Sanches of lying about his age. Earlier this year, the President of Sporting made a controversial claim about the age of Renato Sanches on social media. Renato Sanches responded by threatening to sue Bruno and demanded an apology for the issue.
Renato Sanches shot to limelight after his €35 million (Up to €80 million with add-ons) to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in May this year. His move to Bayern was followed by some match-winning performances for Portugal in the ongoing UEFA Euro 2016 in France.
The youngster scored his first goal for the national team against Poland on 29th of June when his shot hit Krychowiak and deflected past Subasic to draw Portugal level in their quarter-final game against Poland. This goal also made him the youngest goalscorer at the Euros for Portugal beating teammate and captain Cristiano Ronaldo. He is also the third youngest goal scorer overall behind Johann Vonlanthen and Wayne Rooney by 176 days and 80 days respectively.
Renato who is already dubbed as the heir to Ronaldo for the national team and also the best talent at the Euros prepares for Portugal’s clash against Wales tonight in the first semi-finals of the Euros.