This time it’s settled. After long weeks of negotiations with Losc, PSG finally formalized the arrival of Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches on Thursday. In the North since 2019, the Lille number 10 has signed up until 2027.
After reaching an agreement with the Mastiffs on Tuesday evening, the Portuguese international (24 years old, 32 caps) went to Paris this Wednesday afternoon to undergo his medical examination and sign his 5-year contract with the capital club. According to our information, the transfer should cost 10 million euros to PSG, accompanied by 3 M€ in bonuses, an amount significantly lower than the amount requested by the Lille management (15) to buy out the last year of his player’s contract. On this file Luis Campos, the Football Councilor, has shown himself to be a skilful negotiator. Eager to come to Paris at all costs, the Lusitanian midfielder was, for his part, ready to stay one more season in the north in order to leave free in June 2023. After Vitinha, Hugo Ekitike and Nordi Mukiele, it is the fourth recruit of the Parisian summer.
Golden Boy in 2016, a complicated experience at Bayern, a rebirth at Lille
The Portuguese, also courted by AC Milan, had been a priority for the new Parisian management for several weeks. A time hoped for before the tour in Japan, he finally joined Paris just in time for the resumption of the championship, this Saturday in Clermont for the Parisians. Even if he will probably not be immediately operational, having played none of Losc’s four preseason games, pending his transfer.
Trained at Benfica Lisbon, he very quickly made a strong impression in the small world of European football. Precocious and talented, he won in 2016, after being crowned European champion in France with Portugal, the prestigious “Golden Boy”, a prize awarded by the Italian media Tuttosport and rewarding the best player under 21 in Europe. In the process, he was transferred to Bayern Munich, where he encountered competition from the biggest clubs for the first time.
A step a little too high for him. Bothered by physical glitches, he was loaned to Swansea for a season and then officially left Bayern for LOSC in 2019, with around fifty games with the Bavarian club in his luggage. His transfer to Lille is already the work of Luis Campos. Under the orders of Christophe Galtier, whom he will also find in Paris, Sanches recovers his best level despite still regular injuries and contributes to the title of LOSC in 2021. The next step for him is therefore to find the gratin of European football, but still in Ligue 1.
