Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches on his way to Anfield

After playing a starring role for Portugal in EURO 2020, he has now been reportedly close to joining Liverpool. French newspaper L'Equipe (via Portuguese journalist Pedro Almeida) has stated that the player's €35 million (he will be earning €4.5 million per year) transfer to Liverpool football club is close to completion. Pundits believe that he will be an excellent addition to Liverpool's midfield. He will sign an initial five-year contract with the Merseysiders.

Almedia added that he had watched Lille on many occasions last season, and Sanches will be a very good replacement for departing Georginio Wijnaldum. He also stated that Sanches has been excellent for the National team as well, his inclusion in the midfield making them hard to break down. They gave N'Golo Kante, arguably the best defensive midfielder in world football currently, the runaround when they played France in a 2-2 tie in this year's European Championship.

Sanches and McGinn - the combination

He says he does not believe there is a much better player in world football right now to take over the Wijnaldum role than Sanches. Also, with Sanches only being twenty-three, the potential for him to be even better than Wijnaldum is a distinct possibility. If you combine his talents with those of Aston Villa's John McGinn, who has also been touted as a possible transfer for the Anfield outfit, the combination could be even better than what Klopp could have hoped for.

Running down his contract

The main reason for the player being available for such a low transfer fee, despite having youth on his side, as well as the potential to be one of the world's best, is that he only has two years left on his contract. Lille would not want to risk receiving a lower fee if they continue to allow his current contract to run down.

Jurgen Klopp's tactical expectations are most likely to be met by this transfer. The player's youth, his potential to even improve even more, as well as his development potential in terms of market worth, will tick all the manager's boxes to make this transfer a reality.