The new muscle injury of Renato Sanches, loaned to Benfica by PSG, is causing teeth in Portugal where the Parisian club is accused of only lending fragile players to the Lisbon club.
Trained at Benfica, where he exploded before being transferred to Bayern Munich, Renato Sanches has been regularly injured since the start of his career, which has prevented him from confirming all the hopes placed in him. After a failed loan to AS Roma last season, the 27-year-old Portuguese midfielder was loaned by PSG to his training club this season.
Already two injuries this season for Renato Sanches
But Renato Sanches still has a hard time putting together matches. He has only started two this season, for 8 appearances in total out of 16 possible matches. Victim of a muscle injury in mid-September, the 2016 European champion missed a month of competition. While he was expected to start this Saturday in the Portuguese Cup against Estrela, Renato Sanches was injured again on Tuesday in training.
According to the Portuguese press, he is suffering from a small muscle injury in his adductor and although the duration of his unavailability is not yet known, this new physical problem is starting to seriously worry the local press, like the daily Record , who fears seeing a “film already seen”in reference to Julian Draxler and Juan Bernat, two former PSG players who were often injured during their loan to Lisbon.
Renato Sanches' purchase option already to be forgotten?
Former vice-president of SL Benfica, Gaspar Ramos was more vindictive towards PSG in an interview with Antena 1: “They throw them here to assess whether or not they can be useful to them in the future, and Benfica cannot be subjected to these situations. Because beyond the financial aspects, which are secondary in this situation, there is above all the sporting aspect. When we make recruitments, it is to strengthen the team with the aim of winning, because that is the main objective of the team, to win”he blurted.
For him, there is no question of Benfica lifting its purchase option estimated at €10 million at the end of the season: “There is no question of it, that would be pure madness. It doesn't occur to me, as a Benfica fan and as a member of society, that whoever is running the club at the moment would make such a decision, it doesn't occur to me.”he concluded.
On Tuesday, Benfica president Rui Costa was present at the PSG Campus as part of the executive committee of the ECA, the European club association of which Nasser Al-Khelaïfi is president. The two men sat side by side and talked about international competitions and player health with other European football executives. Who knows, the two men may have had time to talk about Renato Sanches…
According to the Portuguese press, Benfica has not paid compensation for the loan of Renato Sanches, but will have to pay a sum to the Parisian club if the player participates in at least 60% of Benfica's matches this season. The amount will be higher if the player plays at least 80% of matches. For the moment, he has only participated in 50% of the Portuguese club's matches, which finally has a purchase option for €10 million, which he is not obliged to exercise at the end of the season.
