Sanches was born in the Hospital Amadora-Sintra in the Lisbon metropolitan area, to a father also named Renato Sanches, from São Tomé and Príncipe, and a mother named Maria das Dores, from Cape Verde. It was a piece of outrageous ball skill the likes of Brazil's Golden Ball winner Ronaldinho, or Nigeria's flamboyant former player Jay-Jay Okocha would have been proud of.

He is not at the level he was and when he had the injury in January, it finished him. Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first. [67][68] Following the 1–1 draw, he scored Portugal's second attempt in their penalty shootout victory, and was again elected man of the match.

[78], Opponents of Sanches have claimed he is older than his birth certificate states, basing their judgement on the gap between his birth and its registration. It completely bamboozled the defender, who was still looking the wrong way - to where he thought the ball was going to be - by the time Sanches had twisted around him and zoomed down the left wing in one smooth motion. [75][76] His attributes include physical strength, passing ability, and being composed in possession. © 2020 ABG-SI LLC. [57], On 23 August 2019, Sanches joined French club Lille on a four-year contract for a reported fee of €25 million, becoming Lille's most expensive signing ever.

[4] His parents split up months after his birth, and his father moved to work in France; Sanches' birth was not registered until his father returned in 2002 and the parents had him baptised. [37], After recovering from a thigh injury, Sanches made his debut on 9 September, starting in a 2–0 win at Schalke 04 in place of Arturo Vidal.

Xabi Alonso has backed Portugal wonderkid Renato Sanches to make a big impact at Bayern Munich following his big-money move from from Benfica.

For Portugal, they were very unlucky not to come out of the game with the win, both Cristiano Ronaldo and Renato Sanches came agonisingly close to putting the home side in front. [10] The team paid €750 and 25 footballs for his signature. [46], Sanches suffered hamstring injuries in two consecutive FA Cup matches in January 2018, and new manager Carlos Carvalhal allowed him to go home so the warmer weather could aid his rehabilitation. [6], According to Goal.com writer Miles Chambers, the accusations against Sanches stem from conscious or unconscious racial stereotyping, based on historical occasions in which players from the African continent have lied about their age, although he was born in Portugal. The one-time can't-miss prospect has had his ups and downs since breaking out at Euro 2016 and appears to have found his footing in France.

Join the discussion or compare with others! [73] On 6 September, he came on as a substitute in the 86th minute against Croatia for his first international cap in nearly 18 months. [27] On 8 May, Sanches was sent off for a second yellow card in the first half of a 2–0 win at Marítimo,[28] missing Benfica's last league match in which they retained their title at the expense of city rivals Sporting CP with victory over Nacional. All Rights Reserved. But if they watched last Friday's moment of magic against Montpellier, they will already have seen for themselves how Sanches is a rejuvenated player. [50] His return to good form was indeed sustained by being elected Bayern's best player of September. He’ll get his chances". Sanches went on to score the winning goal in the game, too, with another fine piece of skill as he cut past two defenders on the left and slammed the ball into the bottom corner with a fizzing shot.