Renato Sanches looks set to become one of the best players in the world.
The 18-year-old has starred for Portugal at Euro 2016, after an impressive debut season with Benfica, and will link-up with Bayern Munich following the tournament. Sanches turned down an offer from Manchester United to join the German champions for a deal worth an initial €35m.
His rise has been meteoric – this time last year, Sanches had yet to play a senior game – but a French coach isn’t buying into the youngster’s fairytale rise.
Guy Roux claims the player is not as young as people are being led to believe.
Roux, who coached French club Auxerre for an incredible 44 years, between 1961 and 2005, has told Romanian media that Sanches is “23 or 24” and not 18.
“He says he’s 18, but I think you should look at the past,” the 77-year-old said.
“His date of birth was declared years after as it was never originally indicated to the registry. I can assure you that he is 23 or 24 years old.”
Sanches’ date of birth is registered as August 18 1997, but Roux claims that the player’s birth was not registered for five years because his parents separated, a claim that also appears on Spanish media outlet AS.
