According to reports from The Express, scouts from Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United ran the rule over Benfica prodigy Renato Sanches last Friday.
The 18-year-old has registered just 15 league outings in the Primeira Liga, scoring twice, but is already being compared to Brazilian great Ronaldinho and attracting heavy interest from the Premier League.
Arsenal and Manchester United were both linked with the Portugal U19 during the January transfer window and the latter club allegedly saw a €40million bid rejected by the Estadio da Luz outfit.
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Benfica have since upped Sanches’ release clause to a whopping £62million – although some sources claim they’d be prepared to sell for £47million – but that doesn’t appear to have stubbed out interest from the English top flight.
Indeed, according to The Express – who cite reports from Portuguese publication O Jogo – scouts from Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and United watched the midfielder in action during a 2-1 defeat to FC Porto last Friday. Sanches provided an assist for Kostas Mitroglou’s 18th-minute opener.
However, the British tabloid warn that alongside the Premier League quartet, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are also chasing the prodigious teenager.