According to reports from The Express, former midfielder Owen Hargreaves has urged Manchester United to meet Benfica’s £47million valuation of prodigious midfielder Renato Sanches.
The 18-year-old has registered just 15 league outings for the Primeira Liga outfit, scoring twice, but is already being compared to Brazilian great Ronaldinho and attracting heavy interest from the Premier League.
Indeed, Arsenal were linked with a late swoop for the Portugal U19 towards the end of the January transfer window whilst Manchester United reportedly failed in a €40million swoop.
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Last week, Benfica upped Sanches’ release clause to an eye-watering £62million, but The Express claim the Portuguese outfit would likely sell the younger – who is represented by renowned super-agent Jorge Mendes – for around £47million.
Owen Hargreaves was working as a pundit for BT Sport during Benfica’s 1-0 win over Zenit in the Champions League yesterday evening and after the match urged his former club to stump up the cash.
As quoted by The Express, he said; “I’m not sure €60million(£47million) is a gamble. The release clause is ridiculous but he’s gonna be a super player no question. 18-year-old, only played fifteen games so far but he’s got a terrific future ahead of him. He’s more of a box-to-box midfielder. Really good passer of the ball. Great striker of the ball from distance.”