Renato Sanches' Situation At Swansea Has Finally Been Explained And It's Heartbreaking To Read

Renato Sanches hasn't exactly taken the Premier League by storm since his arrival in the summer and many have asked the same question since.

What happened to the player who lit up the European Championships with eventual winners Portugal in 2016?

In a revealing interview with The Times Swansea manager Paul Clement has spoken of how 'damaged' Sanches was when he arrived at the Liberty Stadium last year, referencing why the 20-year-old has struggled on match days.

To be honest it's quite a heartbreaking story. The pressure of match days have clearly got to Sanches and you can sense the struggle in Clement's latest quotes.

"When he came, he was far more damaged than I thought. It was really sad. He was a boy who had almost got the weight of the world on his shoulders." Clement said to The Times.

"In training, when that pressure is not there, he was the best player but then in games, I looked at the choices he was making, shooting from 45 yards on the angle, and he kept making those mistakes."

"He got in a vicious cycle of poor choices. The other players were saying, 'he's playing like that and you're not picking me' so it became difficult to pick him."

Clement then revealed how Sanches thought he was joining a top European club but Bayern wanted him to get a good amount of first team football under his belt:

"Bayern really supported it. They thought he was going to a club who played football, and to a coach who would care and give him the attention he needs.

"He (Sanches) wasn't so keen initially. He thought he was going to go to Manchester United, Chelsea or Paris Saint-Germain. Bayern were saying, 'You're not going there, it would be the same situation, you're not going to play'."

Thoughts on Sanches' time at Swansea City?

In my opinion, people need to give him more time to adapt to life in arguably the toughest league in world football. If he's impressing in training then expect him to eventually flourish.

Let us know in the comments.

Topics: Football News, Football, Premier League, Renato Sanches, swansea, Bayern Munich

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_