Arsenal: Lille stance on Renato Sanches asking price

Renato Sanches Would Likely Cost Arsenal Beyond Their Means

Renato Sanches was the talk of the town in 2016 after a magnificent European Championships for Portugal as they stunned France to lift to trophy. Bayern Munich won a hotly contested race for his signature, a move where he completely lost his way. It wasn’t the right fit, he got injured in 2018 and then had a torrid loan spell at Swansea which set him back further – three seasons of his career drifted by.

He’s completely revived his career since, moving to Lille in the summer of 2019. Finding his feet again and blossoming in Ligue 1, his trajectory veered away of its slide and he demonstrated that by being Portugal’s best player up until their last-16 elimination.

To say his form only comes in the Euros is unjust, however, as Sanches had an excellent to start to the previous campaign for Lille en route to their title win. He suffered an injury that then limited the amount of starts he made for the rest of the season, but still impressed playing in a variety of midfield roles.

Someone who loves to be involved in as much of the play as he can, his rampaging ball carries where he blends balance and brutality can be mesmeric. Completing an average of 3.93 dribbles per game (98th percentile) and carrying the ball into the box 0.75 times per 90 (98th percentile), his willingness to drive and thrust his side forward is evident.

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He has flicks, tricks and skills in abundance, sits in the 97th percentile for goal-creating actions and visually delights with his quick bursts of speed from standstill, reminiscent of Jack Wilshere in his pomp.

Sanches is someone who makes things happen. A midfielder who can turn on a sixpence, feed an onrushing forward or glide beyond his man into shooting positions. When he plays without fear and the confidence oozes out of him, he’s borderline unstoppable.

If any club were signing that Sanches, they wouldn’t think twice. It’d have to be a side with a combative No. 6 alongside though, someone who can make up for his lack of physicality and defensive output – which is the obvious weak point to his game – hence why he flourishes for Portugal with Danilo Pereira and Joao Moutinho.

Coming back to that transfer fee though, €80m is a gigantic outlay to part with for a player who it would appear only suits certain environments. That said, Sanches is a perfect example of how progression isn’t linear in football and those bad years at Bayern may be the only ones of a career being steadily rebuilt.

But the money is too steep. Were he tried and tested in the Premier League then there could be a change of heart, yet even still it’s a significant sum to part with in a summer where the Arsenal budget is something of a blur. A huge talent in the right profile, but a huge fee.