Swansea City are reportedly close to completing the season-long loan signing of Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches from Bayern Munich.
According to Sky Sports and Di Marzio, the Euro 2016 winner will link up with Swansea manager Paul Clement once again, having coached the 20-year-old at Bayern before he joined Swansea in January.
Bayern spent €35 million on Sanches last summer, and could pay up to a total of €80 million in add-ons to Benfica depending on objectives met.
Reports have claimed that Swansea will pay a €5 million loan fee and there may also be a €30 million option to buy.
How did Swansea get Sanches?
Sanches’ year at Bayern was not well spent, the centre-midfielder made just 25 appearances for the club and did not get a single goal or assist.
However the 2016 Golden Boy winner is still highly valued by Bayern, a reason why he is only allowed to leave on loan as opposed to a permanent move.
Several high-profile clubs have been linked with a move for Sanches, including Liverpool and AC Milan most notably, but Swansea appear to have pipped them both.
It is thought Sanches only considered moving to Swansea because of Clement, who has used his contacts wisely having been Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant for several years.
Ancelotti knows that Sanches is going to get regular game-time in the Premier League, following Gylfi Sigurdsson departure from Swansea to Everton earlier this month.
Swansea have completed the signing of Sam Clucas from Hull City since, but another midfielder was always likely to be added in addition to the man who made his debut in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Swansea are also reportedly close to re-signing Wilfried Bony from Manchester City, according to the Mirror, which could pave the way for Fernando Llorente to join Chelsea.
Sanches could even make his Swansea debut in their next Premier League game at home to Newcastle United.