|
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has ruled out selling Renato Sanches to AC Milan but said Bayern Munich would consider sending the Portugal midfielder out on loan. Sanches, 19, won the 2016 Golden Boy award and was voted best young player at Euro 2016 but has struggled to meet expectations at Bayern since his move from Benfica last summer. On Tuesday the Portugal international said he would like to join AC Milan "if the opportunity arose" in a bid to secure more playing time. "We would send him out on loan for maximum one year because we are convinced he can become a good and useful Bayern player," Bayern CEO Rummenigge said at a news conference in Singapore, where the Bundesliga champions are on tour. Sanches only started six Bundesliga games last season, failing to score or provide an assist in 25 appearances in all competitions, while completing 90 minutes on just a single occasion. However, Rummenigge praised the combative midfielder's performance in Bayern's 3-2 International Champions Cup victory over Chelsea on Tuesday. "He played magnificently; you could see after the game how happy he was to make a breakthrough," he said. According to Rummenigge, Sanches' future is yet to be decided. "I had a long talk with Renato and this is a story with an open ending. He does not necessarily want to leave, he wants to play. We all share this opinion," he added. Milan general manager Marco Fassone cast doubt on a deal taking place and appeared to lay the blame at Bayern's door. "I don't know if he'll be our next signing," Fassone said. "We've been speaking to Bayern and the player for the past 20, 25 days. At the moment, Bayern are setting conditions that we cannot meet, but maybe in the coming weeks the situation will change." ESPN FC's Ben Gladwell contributed to this report.
|
