Paul Clement key in Renato Sanches's Swansea City switch
The rumours inevitably surround the big clubs and the big name players on the final day of the transfer window, but it was the traditionally transfer-prudent Swansea City that gently flexed their financial muscle on Thursday with the surprise signing of Portuguese teenage prodigy Renato Sanches on a season-long loan.
For his services, Swansea City have had to invest around €10m, and parent club Bayern Munich have emphasised that there will be no option to buy the player they signed on a 5-year deal from Benfica last summer once the arrangement comes to an end. For Bayern, Sanches is a work in progress and a long-term investment, and for that reason, his switch to Swansea City makes perfect sense.
Renato Sanches is an undoubted talent, and his performances for eventual champions Portugal at UEFA EURO 2016 last summer earned him the Young Player of the Tournament award. He was 18 at the time of the finals, but having recently turned 20, he now needs to turn his potential into reality and his debut season at the Bundesliga champions has been nothing but a steep learning curve.
Arriving at the Allianz Arena as a raw teenager with a big price tag and the weight of expectancy on his shoulders, Sanches largely failed to impress. He has had to adapt to a new language, culture, professionalism, expectancy and pressure, and while his natural talent was shown in patches, it was simply not enough for a club that demands nothing but perfection at all times.
But Sanches arrived in Germany as a teenage star, and too often the age of a player is treated as a statistic when in certain cases it should be treated for what it really is. Once a player has matured into his or her early to mid-twenties then the focus should be firmly-fixed on their footballing talents, but when a player is still in their formative years, there are many psychological elements that must be taken into consideration.
Renato Sanches proved last summer that he has the potential to make it at the very highest level. But those performances were in the colours of his country, and the environment of the Portuguese national team is one he has grown-up in since he made his debut for the Under-15 side back in 2012. It is a familiar environment in which he has progressed through the pathway system, culminating in success with the senior side in France.
In addition, playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo will make any player's game a lot easier, and with his team-mate receiving all of the defensive attention of the opposition, Sanches had the time and space to express himself as Portugal defied the odds to lift the trophy in Paris. Sanches is not alone in finding salvation with the national team, and the demands of the modern club game means that many top players enjoy a break from the pressure when the international break comes around.
Why moving to Swansea makes sense?
But swapping Bayern Munich for Swansea City is far from the end for Renato Sanches. In fact, it is just the beginning. This is simply one early step back in order to take two much bigger steps forward, and deciding on his destination has been a calculated move designed to ensure that their investment is looked after and educated in a professional environment that the German champions can trust.
And there are few people that Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti trusts more than Swansea City boss Paul Clement. Ancelotti first worked alongside the former school teacher at Chelsea, and he continued to accompany him as his assistant at Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and most recently, Bayern Munich. It was at Munich that Clement worked with Renato Sanches, and there will be a degree of familiarity when the pair reunite at the Liberty Stadium.
But there is much more to the move than that, and Ancelotti will be keen for Clement to educate and develop his talented young winger over the course of the English Premier League season.
Ancelotti is under pressure at Bayern Munich after a concerning pre-season campaign, and he has more pressing issues to deal with in Bavaria than taking care of a mid to long-term project like Renato Sanches.
In addition, there is a desperate need for a flair player like Sanches at Swansea City, and the Jack Army fan base will relish his tricks as his confidence inevitably returns. He has every chance of becoming a fan favourite at the Liberty Stadium, and while it was his genius for Portugal that helped eliminate Wales from EURO 2016 at the semi-final last summer, that will quickly be forgiven if he can make an immediate and positive impression.
Although Paul Clement was considered something of a risky appointment by Swansea City last January, it was his close links with Ancelotti that were an encouraging factor for what was a club in crisis at the time. Relegation was subsequently avoided, and as Clement builds a team in his own image, he has now turned to his extensive contact book as he looks to take advantage of his unique position.
Carlo Ancelotti's status in the game means that he will always find himself challenging for honours with the biggest clubs in the world, and this inevitably means he will have an extensive list of talented players at his disposal. Renato Sanches is one such player, but having shown that his time to shine at Bayern Munich has not quite come yet, there is an alternative option with Clement at Swansea that can be of mutual benefit.
However, the English Premier League is a tough competitive division, and Sanches will be quickly found out if he fails to settle in his new surroundings. Already a European champion with his country, Sanches showed last summer that he has all the potential to perform at the highest level in the game, and if Paul Clement can bring the best out of him, then it could prove to be one of the biggest signings of the transfer window.