Sanches secures Bayern exit with €25m Lille move
Renato Sanches has completed a reported €25million move to Lille days after bemoaning Bayern Munich's apparent refusal to sell him.
Portugal international Sanches looked one of world football's most exciting talents when he starred on the big stage at Euro 2016, earning a lucrative transfer from Benfica to Bayern.
But the 22-year-old failed to impress in Germany, also enduring with an unsuccessful loan in the Premier League with Swansea City, and appeared set to depart in this transfer window.
Sanches suggested he was happy to stay during the close season but repeated his desire for more minutes and then aired frustrations when he came off the bench for five minutes in the Bundesliga opener against Hertha Berlin.
The midfielder said Bayern twice prevented him from leaving, yet he has now been allowed to move on, signing for Lille on a five-year contract after arriving in France on Friday.
"Renato Sanches asked us to transfer because he wanted to join a club where he would like more games," said Bayern's chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
"Unfortunately, we could not guarantee him this at Bayern. Match practice is also important to him because he wants to claim his place in the Portuguese national team for Euro 2020.
"I would like to thank Renato for his achievements and wish him all the best for his future on behalf of Bayern."
Pendant ce temps-là au Domaine de Luchin... pic.twitter.com/I789QvVXR6
— LOSC (@losclive) August 23, 2019
Lille finished second in Ligue 1 last season, qualifying for the Champions League, but lost star man Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal.
"My wish was to join Lille so I'm really happy to be here," Sanches told Lille's official website. "I was very well received and I hope everything will be fine for me.
"I have been in contact with [sporting director] Luis Campos for a long time already. His words and the project they carry with [president] Gerard Lopez convinced me, as did the confidence they show in me.
"I talked a lot with Jose Fonte, I always got on well with him. I do not know all my other team-mates well, but I cannot wait to meet them all. Go LOSC!"