

For any player who is considered an elite performer in European football, the dream of someday playing for a club that can help them win the biggest trophies is the main objective. Portuguese youngster Renato Sanches knew how big of a club Manchester United is, but not playing the Champions League next season was the main reason why he chose another club at the end. The first signs Bayern Munich gave of attempting his transfer, were more than enough for him to change his mind.
Club legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, revealed that Bayern got in the way of United's negotiations for Renato, he told Sport Bild that: "Renato had a concrete offer from Manchester United and we knew about that. But I heard on the eve of our Champions League semi-final game at Atletico Madrid that they were unable to close the deal because they did not have a new manager yet. We immediately made our move then. We invited Benfica's president and Sanches' agent to Madrid. The mood after the game was obviously not very good, but we reached an agreement over a transfer and shook on it that night."
Another important point to make about all this, is that Bayern may not have signed Renato after the Euros because his price would've gone through the roof: "He would definitely not have come to Bayern had we only made a move after Euro 2016. His agent texted me after his goal in the quarter-final against Poland 'You can be really happy doing the business really early'."
Photo credit: Bayern Munich