Renato Sanches: ‘I was forced to join Swansea’
Former Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches has revealed he never wanted to join Swansea City on loan but was given no choice.
Sanches, 22, is now at Ligue 1 side Lille having joined permanently from Bayern Munich in the summer, ending a three-year association with the German giants.
Sanches miserable Swansea spell: Five key things to know…
- Renato Sanches joined Swansea City on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich in August 2017.
- He went on to make 15 appearances in all competitions for the Welsh side.
- Of those, 12 came in the Premier League, but he started nine and would complete the full 90 minutes just four times.
- Sanches was involved in just one goal: an assist for Alfie Mawson in Swansea’s 2-0 League Cup win at Reading.
- Now playing for Lille, Sanches has admitted he was “forced” to join the former Premier League club.
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His time in Germany, though, could have been more successful. After making headlines with boyhood club Benfica, Sanches joined Bayern following Euro 2016 in which he was part of Portugal’s winning squad.
However, the multifunctional midfielder would struggle for playing time, featuring across 17 league matches and starting in just six of those outings. The following campaign, with Carlo Ancelotti initially at the helm, Sanches joined then-Premier League club Swansea on a season-long loan.
It would turn out to be a disappointing chapter in his fledgling career, playing under former Bayern assistant coach Paul Clement and successor Carlos Carvalhal, Sanches featured 12 times in the league — starting in all but three — but was unable to score or create a goal.
With his career slowly getting back on track, Sanches has looked on his brief time in English football and has admitted there was never intention on his part to join Swansea.
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“It was not my choice to go to Swansea. I was forced to go there,” he told L’Équipe.
“I didn’t want to go. I have respect for the club, the players, all the people I met there. I appreciated their humility
“They gave me everything, but I did not want to be there. The most difficult moment? When I was injured, I couldn’t train.
“It was the descent; you can’t feel the motivation any more. At the time, I no longer felt this strength.”