Manchester United closing in on €80m deal for Renato Sanches

Posted Tuesday, May 10, 2016 by givemesport.com

Manchester United raised plenty of eyebrows when they agreed to pay a potential €58million for an almost unknown Monaco striker called Anthony Martial.

The Frenchman was considered one of the most exciting young talents in Europe, but even the Ligue 1 outfit were taken aback by Ed Woodward's willingness to pay over the odds.

But having seen Martial justify the financial faith placed in him this season, it seems the Old Trafford executive is ready to pay an even bigger price to prise another top teenage talent this summer.

Renato Sanches may have only made his full Benfica debut in October but he has already broken into Portugal's senior side and is expected to travel to France for Euro 2016 this summer.

The 18-year-old, who plays as a defensive midfielder for the Primeira Liga leaders, has since emerged as one of Europe's top young talents and has drawn interest from Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester City but, according to respected journalist Andy Brassell, the Red Devils have jumped to the front of the queue with a huge bid.

DEAL CLOSE

He told BT Sport: Luis Filipe Vieira, the president of Benfica, was in Manchester about ten days ago agreeing a schedule for the payment of the fee. It looks like it will be €40m up front and €40m in add-ons. A sort of similar deal to the Martial deal."

While acknowledging that it is a huge amount of money to pay for someone so inexperienced, Brassell did claim that Sanches does, at least, look like the "real deal".

HOT HEAD

Having had a terrific breakthrough season for Benfica, Sanches is one of the main reasons why they find themselves two points clear of Sporting Lisbon with one game remaining.

However, his inexperience may cost them big in their final game against Nacional after a moment of hot-headedness saw him sent off against Maritimo.

ENORMOUS DEAL

The size of the transfer deal, possibly Manchester United's biggest ever, shows just how rich the Premier League outfit are. They have invested an incredible £300million into the squad since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 and continue to do so despite having little to show for it.

United have yet to win a major trophy in the post-Fergie era and look set to finish outside the top four for the second time in three seasons. That may show signs that they are spending too much but the transfer train only appears to be gaining velocity.