Swansea City sign Renato Sanches from Bayern Munich on season-long loan
Portuguese Euro 2016-winning midfielder joined the German giants from Benfica for 35 million euros in May 2016.
Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches has joined Swansea on a season-long loan, the two clubs have announced.
Sanches was part of Portugal’s Euro 2016-winning squad and joined Bayern from Benfica for 35 million euros in May 2016.
But the 20-year-old has found game-time with the Bundesliga champions limited and made only 26 appearances last season.
Swansea boss Paul Clement spent time as Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant at Bayern last season and used his contacts in Bavaria to pull off the shock move.
The move was confirmed on the Twitter accounts of both clubs, with Bayern tweeting in German: “Renato Sanches moves on loan to Swansea City. Good luck with @SwansOfficial.”
Clement has been seeking a creative influence since the departure of Gylfi Sigurdsson to Everton for a club-record £45m fee two weeks ago.
Sanches was named the best young player at Euro 2016 and joined Bayern after being linked with Manchester United among others.
Chelsea, Juventus, Liverpool and Monaco were also linked with Sanches this summer amid speculation over his future. But Bayern refused to sanction a permanent transfer and were only interested in allowing him to go out on loan.
“We wanted Renato Sanches to go to a club where he could play at a high level,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told German sport magazine Kicker. “Renato has to play continuously for a year, which is not guaranteed at the moment in the squad.”
Sending Sanches to Swansea also appealed to Bayern as they are not a Champions League rival.
Sanches has completed the necessary paperwork while on international duty with Portugal, and will join the Swansea squad before their next Premier League game against Newcastle on September 10.
Swansea earlier had a £12 million bid for their former striker Wilfried Bony accepted by Manchester City, Press Association Sport understands. Bony will now undergo a Swansea medical on Thursday afternoon and complete a return to the club he left for £28 million in January 2015.
Swansea wanted to sign Bony before the departure of Spain striker Fernando Llorente was finalised.
Tottenham emerged as favourites to sign Llorente, despite Chelsea’s long-standing interest in the striker, after Swansea accepted a Spurs bid for the 32-year-old World Cup-winner.
