KEY POINTS

  • Sanches was part of Portugal squad that won the Euro 2016 after defeating France in the final.
  • Manchester United were keen on securing Sanches' services while he was Benfica.
  • The 19-year-old says Bayern manager Carlo Ancelotti always looks calm and in charge.

Portugal's Euro 2016 star Renato Sanches has revealed Bayern Munich put in a "lot of effort" in signing him, which convinced him to snub advances from Manchester United and join the Bundesliga winners.

The 19-year-old was attracting strong interest from the Red Devils and was heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford in May. There was a managerial crisis at United and it was finally solved when the club decided to allow Louis van Gaal to leave and replaced him with Jose Mourinho.

Even before the 20-time English champions could appoint the Portuguese tactician as their new manager, Sanches had agreed a deal to join Bayern. The German giants agreed a €35m (£30m, $39m) fee with Benfica in securing the services of the teenager.

Bayern later joined the race in signing Sanches and their plans for his development at the Allianz Arena were sufficient for him to reject United in favour of the Bavarians.

"I had a good feeling about it right away when I heard about Bayern Munich's interest," Sanches explained, as quoted by The Sun.

"They really put in a lot of effort and I immediately got a feeling the people in charge believed in me as a player. That was the decisive factor behind my decision to join Bayern."

Carlo Ancelotti replaced Pep Guardiola at Bayern as the latter ended his spell with the German club to take charge at Manchester City. Sanches remains confident that he will improve as a player under the Italian manager's guidance and also playing alongside quality players in the squad.

Renato Sanches
Manchester United were interested in signing Renato Sanches Getty

"Ancelotti always looks calm and in charge. You can just see he has a lot of experience. He is getting involved with his players a lot and is helping players to make individual progress," he said.

"But I am also playing alongside a lot of world-class players here. I can learn from all of them, especially from the players who play in midfield like Arturo Vidal, Xabi Alonso and Thiago Alcantara."

Sanches was part of the Portugal squad that defeated France in the Euro 2016 final to win the European championship. His future was already resolved even before he joined the national team for the tournament in France earlier in the summer.