Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches has been officially announced as the winner of FIFA 2016 Golden Boy award.
Sanches won the race by beating Manchester United’s forward Marcus Rashford in the list. His fellow Bayern Munich teammate Kingsley Coman completed the top three list. Sanches won the award after a breakthrough season with Benfica last term.
Sanches joined Bayern Munich in summer for for an initial 30 million. The midfielder made his
senior debut in October 2015. He delivered impressive performances for Benfica in Champions League and domestic league. The Portuguese attracted big clubs for his signature, but he chose Bayern to continue his development.
Sanches was rewarded for his work at club level with an international call up for Portugal. He featured at Euros replacing the injured Bernardo SIlva. Sanches grabbed his maiden goal for Portugal against Poland in quarterfinals. He won the Young player of the tournament award in the Euros.
Sanches has made a decent start to his career in Germany. The midfielder is not the first choice player for Carlo Ancelloti right now, but in future he will surely be. Ancelloti is perfectly easing Sanches into the squad by providing decent game-time.In an interview with Tuttosport, Sanches admitted that he will learn a lot from the players at the club and continue to work hard.
"“I’m beaming, this award has a global significance.”“But I am down to earth, I have much to learn mainly from my fantastic team-mates such as Vidal, Xabi, Tiago and Kimmich. I dedicate the Golden Boy to my family. The Champions League? Bayern will win, there is no debate: we are the strongest team on the planet.”"
Sanches came on from the bench in Bayern’s 2-0 win over Gladbach on Saturday. He will be hoping for a start on Wednesday as the Bavarians host Augsburg in DFB Pokal game.