One of the most eye-catching transfer swoops of deadline day was Swansea City’s signing of Renato Sanches on a season long loan from Bayern Munich. The youngster demanded a £40 million fee only a year ago after being named the best young player at Euro 2016, so is he worth adding to your Draft Fantasy Football team?
There is no doubting that Sanches is a player of immense quality, but for Draft Fantasy, it is hard to tell exactly where the points will come from for Sanches. An attacking midfielder in nature, unlike the typical low scorers like N’Golo Kante, his defensive contribution is not going to rack up points even with the Kante rule in play.
So, an attacking midfielder should be registering goals and assists for fun. Three goals and one assist in 74 first team games across his time at Benfica, Bayern Munich and Portugal is far from impressive, and over the course of a 38 game season is not going to put him anywhere near the top of the list.
Another concern could be how he will adapt to life in the Premier League. Sanches excelled in his debut season in the Portuguese Liga, but struggled to adapt to life in Germany. Having failed to prove himself in the Bundesliga, there will be plenty of people questioning whether or not he will be able to cope with the pace and physicality of life in the English top flight.
There are reasons that he could be worth a gamble though. At Swansea, Sanches is likely to be given plenty of opportunities in the first team, even if he does take time to adapt. That’s something that was missing under Carlo Ancelotti at the Allianz Arena with incredible competition for places amongst one of the world’s strongest squads.
In Paul Clement, the Swans also have a manager who has proven to have a good record getting the best out of young players. The likes of Tom Carroll have shone at the Liberty Stadium after struggling to impress elsewhere. Sanches could become the latest player to improve under the former Chelsea coach.
Overall, it may be worth holding off adding Sanches to your squad. Whilst he may be worth a gamble, he is unlikely to be high in demand and it could be worth delaying to see how he slots into the Swansea side before taking a punt on the 20-year-old.
Recent Comments