Word out of the Chelsea camp this morning, as reported by both the Telegraph and the Evening Standard — though the former calls is a “bid” and the latter just an “enquiry” — is that the Blues have made a “late” bid for Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches. Presumably “late” here refers to “late entrant” rather than “haha too late again, fools”. Apparently Conte himself had pulled Ancelotti aside to (maybe) get the ball rolling.
Conte has made an enquiry for Renato Sanches and dismissed Barcelona's interest in Eden hazard.full story here #cfc https://t.co/EfphZ9gwUe
— Simon Johnson (@sjstandardsport) July 28, 2017
In a rather ironic twist, it’s Chelsea who are seeking to sign the 19-year-old on loan. Chelsea have become infamous over the past decade for our use (and abuse?) of the loan system to develop players, mostly for profit, but if these reports are to be believed, we could be looking to be on the other side of this transaction.
AC Milan, who are still considered front-runners, are looking at possibly a similar deal as well, and maybe even for two years. As Chelsea have been learning, the multi-year loan moves are more likely to succeed than the single-season ones.
Chelsea make late bid to beat AC Milan to the signing of Renato Sanches https://t.co/Kj2NSeHHDl
— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) July 28, 2017
Sanches was a breakout star at Euro 2016, but failed to live up to those expectations last season. But as we saw in the pre-season friendly on Tuesday, he’s far from a flop and retains plenty of promise. He may not have scored against us, but he certainly impressed in various phases of the game.
Bayern paid over £30m last summer for Sanches, so they’re undoubtedly keen to see that investment not go to waste. Could Chelsea help them out with a loan and in the process help ourselves by adding another quality piece to the midfield puzzle?
Not the worst idea of the week, that’s for sure...