Louis bid to land £60m wonderkid
United move in for Benfica star
Manchester United have moved closer to signing Benfica midfield sensation renato sanches after further talks in London yesterday.
the 18- year- old has a buy- out clause of nearly £60million but United are negotiating hard. It is the second time they have met officials of the Lisbon club after watching sanches in three of his past four games.
Benfica have put a high price on the Portuguese teenager but are expected to sell for around half of that £60m sum, with add-ons.
It would still represent a significant outlay for United, following the signing of anthony Martial in a deal that could eventually cost £58m. at a recruitment meeting of United’s top scouts last week, the decision was made to move now for sanches rather than wait until the summer.
Other heavyweight european clubs have been watching him and United do not want an auction to start.
sanches is an at t acking midfielder who can play down the middle or out wide. he could be loaned back to Benfica for the rest of this season but would be an exciting signing, having broken into the Benfica team this term.
United scouts were originally watching winger Gonçalo Guedes and veteran full-back eliseu but soon realised sanches was the player for them.
Boss Louis van Gaal, meanwhile has encouraged his United players to fight among themselves more often after confirming that a half-time shouting match led to last weekend’s victory at Liverpool.
captain Wayne rooney was at the centre of a frank exchange of views that could even be heard in the Liverpool dressing room before he went out to score United’s winner at anfield.
having accused his players of ‘protecting’ their team-mates too much earlier this month, van Gaal admitted he is happy to stand back and let them criticise one another.
‘I invited it!’ said the United boss, who also revealed ashley Young will need surgery on the groin injury he suffered at anfield. ‘I think it is good. Players have to take responsibility but at the right moment.
‘not only Wayne rooney was doing that, several players were doing it and that’s what I want. the players are self-responsible, not only the manager. ‘It’s a little bit crazy that I said this in a press conference and then it happened at half-time. But I’ve already been asking for this for more than a year. ‘I have seen it in my career also at the wrong moment, but at the right moment you have to do it. In the 1995 champions League Final, Frank rijkaard and my captain, Danny Blind, got involved, for example.’
ajax, of course, went on to win that match against ac Milan thanks to a Patrick Kluivert goal five minutes from time.