Niko Kovac: Renato Sanches isn’t leaving Bayern Munich for PSG
Niko Kovac has ruled out a move for Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches amid interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
Bayern Munich are likely to have a few departures in the summer transfer window. The club is looking to buy a few players this month, but they are not actively looking to offload anyone from their already small squad. Renato Sanches has been gathered interest from Paris Saint-Germain this month, and the Parisians have reportedly already approached Bayern to sign the player.
However, the two clubs are way off in their evaluations for the 21-year-old. Moreover, Niko Kovac is in no mood to sell the dynamic central midfielder in January. Speaking in yesterday’s pre-match press conference (via Bundesliga.com), the Croatian manager asserted that Sanches still remains a big part of his plans in Munich. Kovac also insisted that the 21-year-old will get plenty of minutes in the coming month.
"“PSG were and are very interested, but I’ve said Renato isn’t going anywhere because I think he’s showing great progress.“I’m really pleased with Renato and convinced he’ll play a lot of games throughout the rest of this season. He is doing really well, and I don’t want to lose him.”"
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Sanches was previously linked to PSG at the end of the last summer transfer window. After a difficult two years with Bayern, it was widely expected that he would leave the club last summer.
The Portuguese midfielder reportedly wanted to re-join Benfica in order to get his career back on track. However, the German champions refused to give up on the 2016 Golden Boy winner.
Kovac was impressed with Sanches during pre-season training and the summer friendly games. The Croatian publicly backed Sanches to succeed at Bayern, but asserted that patience would be required for the 21-year-old to fulfill his potential in Bavaria. He eventually decided to stay at the club, after hearing such promising words from the club and manager.
Sanches has started a handful of games for Bayern in the cup competitions this season, along with a few odd starts in the Bundesliga. His performances have improved compared to his debut season, and he has shown glimpses of the qualities that made him the most coveted teenager in Europe three years ago. He scored his first Bayern goal earlier this season against his former side, Benfica, and he has also registered two assists.
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These improved performances at club level have also helped Sanches get recalled to the Portugal national team. The dynamic midfielder has admitted he feels settled at Bayern under Kovac but still wants more minutes than what he is getting now. The next six months will help decide his future at the club, as Bayern have been linked numerous midfielders, including PSG’s own Adrien Rabiot.