Renato Sanches is heading to Swansea on loan... but why is the £30m midfielder leaving Bayern Munich after just one season in Germany?

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A year ago, he was a 30m signing for Bayern Munich and a star of Euro 2016. Now Renato Sanches looks set to join Swansea on loan. 

So what went wrong at Bayern for the Portuguese midfielder, and what can Swansea expect?

Renato Sanches is a stocky midfielder who boasts a penetrative capacity for going forward

What sort of player will be Swansea be getting?

Anyone who watched Sanches at Euro 2016 will be aware that he is a mesmerising talent at his best. At the tender age of 19, his energy and drive were a key part of Portugal's European Championship triumph.

A stocky central midfielder, Sanches' terrier-like work rate off the ball and penetrative capacity going forward are the characteristics which have turned the heads of many a top European club. 

At Bayern, though, his tactical inexperience shone through, as he often struggled to stick to or even identify his role in a high quality, well-drilled midfield.

Why are Bayern Munich letting him go?

The sheer quality of Bayern's midfield, coupled with Carlo Ancelotti's preference for experienced players, meant that Sanches was always going to struggle to oust the likes of Arturo Vidal, Xabi Alonso and Thiago Alcantara from Bayern's first team.

Sanches struggled to break into a loaded Bayern Munich midfield last season in Germany

He played just 615 minutes of football last season, and failed to make a significant impact in any of them. 

With record signing Corentin Tolisso arriving to bolster the midfield in the summer, it looked unlikely that Sanches would have any more luck in the current term. 

Once that became clear in the opening weeks of the season, Bayern were keen to move him elsewhere rather than shifting him into their own reserve team.

Sanches starred in Portugal's midfield during their victorious Euro 2016 campaign in France

Why Swansea?

Bayern chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge made it clear last month that he favoured a loan deal over a straight sale if Sanches were to leave Munich. 

As they are in a period of transition, Bayern will want to be able to bring the Portuguese back if he blossoms elsewhere this season. 

That ruled out some major European clubs who were perhaps hoping to get a cheap deal on a good player, and Paul Clement's Bayern past and close relationship to Carlo Ancelotti seemed to be the decisive argument in favour of Swansea.

Paul Clement's Bayern past seemed to persuade Carlo Ancelotti to loan Sanches to Swansea

Who else wanted him?

Jose Mourinho wanted to sign him last year, and both Manchester United and AC Milan were heavily linked to Sanches this summer. Milan's interest was the most concrete, but Bayern claimed that the Italian club's offer 'did not meet their financial demands'.