Renato Sanches

**Renato Júnior Luz Sanches** ComM (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁɨˈnatu ˈsɐ̃ʃɨʒ]; born 18 August 1997) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for German club Bayern Munich and the Portugal national team.

Sanches began his career at Benfica, making his professional debut for the reserves in October 2014 and for the first team in October 2015. In his only season for them, the team won the Primeira Liga and Taça da Liga.
 He then agreed a move to Bayern Munich for an initial €35 million, the
highest fee at the time for a Portuguese player leaving the domestic
league.

Sanches won 40 caps and scored 8 goals for Portugal at youth
level. He made his full international debut in March 2016 and was chosen
 for UEFA Euro 2016
 at age 18, making him the youngest Portuguese to play in an
international tournament as well as the youngest player to win a UEFA
Euro final. He scored one goal during the competition and won the Young Player of the Tournament as Portugal captured the title for the first time in their history. He was the recipient of the 2016 Golden Boy Award.

## Early life

Sanches was born in the Hospital Amadora-Sintra in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, to a father also named Renato Sanches, from São Tomé and Príncipe, and a mother named Maria das Dores, from Cape Verde.[2] Nicknamed *Bulo* by his grandmother,[3] he grew up in the impoverished Lisbon neighbourhood of Musgueira.[4]
 His parents split up months after his birth, and his father moved to
work in France; Sanches' birth was not registered until his father
returned in 2002 and the parents had him baptised.[5][6] He was registered on 22 August 2002 with the birthdate of 3:25 p.m. on 18 August 1997.[5][7]

Sanches started training in football at Águias da Musgueira at age eight,[8][9] and joined Benfica's youth system in 2006 at age nine.[10] The team paid €750 and 25 footballs for his signature.[11]
 He convinced Benfica to take him after training with them for 15
minutes, but he initially had reservations about travelling to their academy in Seixal every day, on the other side of the Tagus river.[3]

## Club career

### Benfica

Sanches made his professional debut in the 2014–15 campaign, with the B-team in the second division.
 He made his first appearance in the competition on 5 October 2014,
starting and playing the first half of the 2–2 away draw against Feirense.[12] He was sent off twice with straight red cards in the second half of the season: as a substitute in a 3–2 home win over Porto B on 11 January 2015,[13] and a starter in a 1–1 draw at Santa Clara on 7 March.[14]

Sanches in action in March 2016, in a Champions League game away to Zenit

After one year with the reserve team, in 2015–16, Sanches was promoted to the first team, initially only for the training sessions.[15] He remained playing in the reserves, and on 30 August 2015, he scored his first goal in their 2–1 loss at Varzim, opening the scoring within two minutes.[16] Seventeen days later, he scored two penalty kicks in a 3–2 loss at Desportivo das Aves.[17] On 21 October, in the UEFA Youth League, he scored in an away 11–1 group stage win over Galatasaray.[18] Nine days later, Sanches made his debut for the first team, replacing striker Jonas in the 74th minute of a 4–0 win against Tondela.[19]

After the international break in November 2015, Sanches signed a
new contract with Benfica until 2021, with a release clause set at
€45 million.[20] On 25 November, he made his first appearance in the starting line-up, playing 90 minutes in a 2–2 away draw with Astana for the UEFA Champions League's group stage.[20][21] On the following Monday, Sanches started again, this time in a Primeira Liga win at Braga, receiving praise from the media for his performance.[22] Aged 18, on 4 December, he scored his first goal for Benfica, beating Académica's goalkeeper Trigueira with a 30-metre strike and sealing the 3–0 league win.[23] In so doing, he became Benfica's youngest player to score a home goal in the 21st century, at the Estádio da Luz.[24] It was selected as the Goal of the Month.[25]

Sanches added a second goal on 2 January, the match's only at Vitória de Guimarães in the league.[26] On 24 April, he was a target of racism by some Rio Ave
 supporters who made monkey noises when he was leaving the pitch after a
 1–0 away victory. He responded to the provocation with a smile and
moved his arms, mimicking a monkey.[27] On 8 May, Sanches was sent off for a second yellow card in the first half of a 2–0 win at Marítimo,[28] missing Benfica's last league match in which they retained their title at the expense of city rivals Sporting CP with victory over Nacional.[29] In his last match, the 2016 Taça da Liga Final in Coimbra on 20 May, Benfica won the league cup 6–2 against Marítimo.[30]

#### 2016–17 season

On 10 May 2016, Sanches signed a five-year contract effective from 1 July with German club Bayern Munich for €35 million,[31] in a deal totalling €80 million, with the additional €45 million contingent on objectives.[32][33] With this transfer, he became the most expensive Portuguese player to leave the domestic league,[34][note 1] as well as the first Portuguese player to join the Bavarian side.[36] The initial fee was the fourth-highest paid in Bayern Munich's history, after those for Javi Martínez, Mario Götze and Arturo Vidal.[36] Sanches had been tracked extensively by Manchester United before joining Bayern, and their Portuguese former player Nani said they would regret not completing a transfer for him.[37]

After recovering from a thigh injury, Sanches made his debut on 9 September, starting in a 2–0 win at Schalke 04 in place of Arturo Vidal. Although he made errors in his 71 minutes before being replaced by Joshua Kimmich, he was given reassurance by captain Phillip Lahm and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer,
 with the former saying, "He's a very, very good player, otherwise he
wouldn't be here. He's a European champion and will definitely be an
asset to us in the future."[38] On 24 October, he became the first Portuguese player to win the Golden Boy award for best European player under the age of 21, ahead of Manchester United's Marcus Rashford.[39]

While Bayern won the Bundesliga,
 Sanches played only 25 matches across all competitions and did not
record a single goal or assist. He started just four league games and
playing the entirety of only one.[40] Sanches had to compete with more experienced players like Arturo Vidal, Thiago and Xabi Alonso for playing time. It did not help Sanches that Bayern's manager, Carlo Ancelotti,
 has a reputation of not relying on young players. Sky Deutschland
reporter Torben Hoffman said, "He has had problems with the language and
 found it hard to integrate with the team. There is also a lot of
competition for places at Bayern."[41] Former Bayern player Lothar Matthäus
 named him among the three worst players of the season, while Sanches
himself said he was disappointed by his performances; however, manager
Carlo Ancelotti said he would remain at the Allianz Arena for the following season.[40]

## International career

Sanches gained 40 caps for Portugal all youth categories comprised.[51] He represented Portugal in the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, helping them reach the semi-finals, where they lost to eventual winners, England.[52] He was named in the Team of the Tournament.[53]

On 18 March 2016, Sanches was called up by Fernando Santos for the senior squad to play friendlies against Bulgaria and Belgium.[54] He debuted for Portugal as a 76th-minute substitute for William Carvalho in the 0–1 loss against Bulgaria in Leiria, and shortly after he was greeted by a fan who invaded the pitch.[55]

### UEFA Euro 2016

Sanches scoring the equaliser for Portugal against Poland at UEFA Euro 2016

Sanches was called-up for UEFA Euro 2016, making him the youngest Portuguese to be selected for an international competition, breaking a record held by Cristiano Ronaldo for 12 years.[56] Sanches made his competitive debut on 14 June in the team's opening match against Iceland in Saint-Étienne, replacing João Moutinho for the final 19 minutes of a 1–1 draw.[57] He contributed to the only goal of the match in a 1–0 extra-time victory in the round of 16 against Croatia on 25 June, and was elected man of the match.[58] Observing that performance, former Portuguese international António Sousa
 said, "When he's on the ball you don't notice how young he is.
Physically and mentally, he is more than ready," while Fernando Santos
exalted Sanches as a player immune to pressure.[11]

Five days later in the quarter-finals against Poland, Sanches overtook Ronaldo's record as the youngest Portuguese to start in a major tournament.[59]
 After a one-two with Nani, Sanches shot from outside the box and
equalised in the first half to become the youngest player to score in a
knockout match at a UEFA European Championship and the third-youngest overall.[59][60] Following the 1–1 draw, he scored Portugal's second attempt in their penalty shootout victory, and was again elected man of the match.[61] Following the match, teammates Nani and José Fonte praised Sanches' stamina, confidence and desire to learn from his elders.[37] After his nation's 1–0 extra-time victory over hosts France in the final of the tournament, Sanches received the Young Player of the Tournament Award for his performances.[62]