Liverpool must complete transfer swoop for Renato Sanches | OneFootball

After saying goodbye to Georginio Wijnaldum at the end of last season, Liverpool didn’t sign a replacement for the Dutchman who joined French club Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer after making a total of 237 appearances across all competitions.

One midfield player, however, that has been linked with a move to the Merseyside club that could be a potential heir for Wijnaldum is LOSC Lille star Renato Sanches.

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Recently, the Portuguese international has made a claim that could excite a lot of Liverpool fans that may be hoping to see him in a Reds shirt in the near future.

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In a recent interview with French media outlet L’Equipe (via Liverpool Echo), Sanches revealed that he feels ready to join a big club again after admitting that he was too young to join Bayern Munich when he did back in 2016.

During his time in Germany, Sanches made 53 appearances for Bayern across all competitions in which he also had a loan spell at Swansea City where he made just 15 appearances before eventually arriving at Lille in 2019.

Since joining the French club, the 24-year-old, who is currently valued at £27m according to Transfermarkt, has managed to score five goal and provide six assists in 67 appearances in all competitions.

In the recent Euro 2020 tournament over the summer, Sanches’ performance in Portugal’s 2-2 draw against France earned him a lot of praise from pundit Jermaine Jenas who said that the midfielder has got “a lot of character.”

That performance, in particular, highlighted just how impressive Sanches can be on the big stage as an all-round midfielder, a role Wijnladum thrived in at Anfield.

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In the 88 minutes he was on the pitch for, Sanches managed to complete 69 of the 74 passes he attempted, had one shot on target, made one key pass, won nine ground duels, made three tackles and completed all of the three dribbles he attempted, ultimately earning himself a solid overall match rating of 7.1/10 according to SofaScore.

Consequently, this would be an excellent piece of business from the Merseyside club if they can sign him for a relatively low fee considering how his current contract at Lille is set to expire in the summer of 2023. Certainly, it would give them a potential long-term replacement for Wijnaldum given his age and ability in the middle of the pitch.