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Man Utd, Chelsea, AC Milan target ‘far more damaged’ than thought

Man Utd, Chelsea, AC Milan target ‘far more damaged’ than thought

Former Bayern Munich assistant Paul Clement feels sorry for Renato Sanches, whom he signed on a season-long loan at Swansea City, saying the player has "the weight of the world on his shoulders."

Clement had hailed Sanches as "one of Europe's elite young talents" when welcoming him to his squad last summer after Swansea agreed to pay Bayern a loan fee of €8.5 million without securing any option to buy the Portugal international at end of his spell in Wales.

But things turned sour for both Sanches and Clement, who was sacked in December with the Welsh side rooted to the bottom of the table, while Sanches has failed to impress in 15 appearances at Swansea so far this season.

“I thought that was a massive coup for us, to attract a player of that level after what he'd done at the Euros,” said Clement. “But 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.”

Swansea beat out Man United, Chelsea, AC Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain for his services.