It is viewed by some as a welcome present for incoming Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho as United have reportedly landed Renato Sanches from Benfica in a deal that could be worth up to £63m. Mourinho and Sanches share the same super agent Jorge Mendes
United have been heavily linked with a move to sign Benfica teenager Sanches for months. Back in February, the Portuguese Newspaper O Jogo reported that Mendes had confirmed that the Portugal U19 international, who has been turning heads in the Primeira Liga all season, was heading to Old Trafford this summer.
Now European football journalist Andy Brassell has put some numbers on the deal telling BT Sport:
“Benfica president, Luis Filipe Vieira, was in Manchester about ten days ago agreeing a payment schedule for the fee.
“It looks like it will be €40m (£31.5m) up front and then €40m (£31.5m) in add-ons.
“A similar deal to that of Anthony Martial and it looks like Benfica are really going to cash in on someone who only made his first-team debut in October.”
The headline number will be the €80m (£63m) but as we saw with Martial, those add-ons include fees for winning the Champions League or Ballon d’Or. If Sanches does that, then he will worth the extra money.
But at least initially, the £31.5m is a manageable fee for a 18-year-old central midfielder who buy all accounts could develop into a star like Anthony Martial. Hopefully he will not be like Memphis Depay who let the money and stage get to him arriving last summer from PSV.