Renato Sanches joined Paris Saint-Germain on a five-year deal from LOSC Lille last summer but already finds his future in the French capital uncertain after struggling for playing time under Christophe Galtier. The 25-year-old has spent his debut season on the periphery and might be sold less than one year into his PSG stay.
Sean Walsh and Graeme Bailey of 90min say Tottenham Hotspur are looking to capitalise on the situation, but they have competition from Aston Villa, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Sanches has little over four years remaining on his deal with PSG, but he can’t be happy sitting on the bench most weeks.
The Portuguese international has made 20 appearances in all competitions for the Parisians but has amassed only 652 minutes of football while starting five games all season, so his debut campaign hasn’t gone to plan – Sanches has played in 51% of PSG’s games (20/39), been given 18.5% of the available minutes (652/3510) and started 12.8% of the available matches.
Tottenham Hotspur have a goalscoring and highly-creative midfielder in Rodrigo Bentancur (five goals and two assists in 18 PL games) while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg boasts four goals with three assists in 27 PL games, but the Lilywhites clearly want more depth. Whether Sanches is the right option remains to be seen, however.
The 25-year-old has scored only two goals and doesn’t have an assist to his name this season, so Spurs’ interest must be based off his time at Lille. Sanches had a hand in 17 goals from 91 games for his former club, so he’s not been prolific.
PSG paid €15m (£13.3m) to sign the midfielder and are reportedly paying him €5m-a-year (£4.4m-a-year) in wages, so they’ll want their money back if he’s sold years before his contract expires. Tottenham wouldn’t have to break the bank to sign Sanches, but would he significantly improve the squad? And while Antonio Conte’s future is uncertain, shouldn’t Spurs wait until they’ve clarified the managerial situation before lining up transfer targets?
If Tottenham are desperate to bolster their midfield, they’re sure to have a host of players on their transfer wishlist, so a decision on a target is unlikely to be made in March. There could be better options than Sanches given how bad his debut season has gone, so time will tell if they make an official move.
