Playing for 90
Fansided

AC Milan set to sign Bayern midfielder

By Benjamin Barkworth

PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 10: Adrien Silva and Renato Sanches of Portugal celebrate winning at the final whistle during the UEFA EURO 2016 Final match between Portugal and France at Stade de France on July 10, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 10: Adrien Silva and Renato Sanches of Portugal celebrate winning at the final whistle during the UEFA EURO 2016 Final match between Portugal and France at Stade de France on July 10, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Italian giants look to continue their impressive summer business by signing Renato Sanches.

According to reports, Milan are aiming to bring him in on loan with a €40m option to buy at the end of the season. The talented Portuguese midfielder has seen his career stall at Bayern as he only played in 25 games last season.

Even that total is deceiving, though, because the majority of them appearances were from the bench. It’s not a surprise to see him want to move on because he is obviously talented. His performances for Portugal at Euro 2016 were extremely impressive considering his age.

Moving to Milan would put him at the heart of an exciting project. I Rossoneri have been spending ambitiously in this window as they seek to win their first Serie A title since 2011.

Sanches would represent a bit of a risk due to his lack of game-time in the previous season. However, this is a loan and he seems to have the necessary work ethic as well as the quality to make the €40m option, at the end of the season, a bargain for Milan.

Role

Sanches excels at progressing through the opposition lines with his ability to beat a man. He has a good range of passing as well, but his dribbling ability is his strong point. He still managed to average 1.1 successful take ons per match in the Bundesliga even though he only averaged 36 minutes per appearance. This means his best role would be as a box-to-box midfielder.

Vincenzo Montella is likely to use either a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 or a 3-5-2 formation as his main setup, but is also likely to rotate through them all during the season. These formations get the best out of their new signings, especially Hakan Calhanoglu who is going to be the chief playmaker. Although three at the back is more likely because it would get the best out of Leonardo Bonucci due to it allowing him to bring the ball out of the defence as a ball-playing centre-back.

This means that Sanches would either be playing in a deep midfield two or in a midfield three. His potential partners in a midfield two are either Lucas Biglia or Riccardo Montolivo; they would be in charge of controlling the tempo of the game as well as cutting out danger. In a three, Calhanoglu is likely to play as the advanced midfielder in charge of creating chances. Sanches would have to challenge Franck Kessié for the box-to-box role, though.

Next: AC Milan set to sign Leverkusen playmaker

Either set-up would be a balanced midfield that Milan has desperately needed for a long time. The recruitment by the Italian giants has been smart because there is a clear understanding of what areas they need to improve as well as how they want to play under Montella in the upcoming season.

Stats according to WhoScored.com.

Home/AC Milan