Manchester United boss José Mourinho has explained why he missed out on signing Renato Sanches from Benfica.
“I arrived late. I signed in May, we started talking a week before, but completely out of the process… If I had arrived earlier, I’d fight for him.
“Manchester United watched Renato many times and maybe I did it even more. In so much time at home, I watched many Benfica and Portuguese league games, I got to know the boy better with time.
“He’s in a a big club, in a league where he’ll certainly be the champion – he’d be here as well, he will play the Champions… the club have players of very high level which belong to the structure, a little like Benfica.”
After only 24 official appearances as a professional, Sanches left Benfica for Bayern for €35m, with add-ons which could reach up to €25m. He’s only 18 years old.
Manchester United had reportedly been very interested in the deal, and for a long time looked the likeliest destination, but Bayern Munich swooped in and got the deal done very quickly indeed.
