There is no denying that Renato Sanches is a player with wonderful ability. It was clear when coming through at Benfica that a special player was emerging onto the biggest stage, hence why a move to Bayern Munich swiftly materialised.
However, fast forward to 2022 and talk of an Arsenal move for Sanches has forever filled me with apprehension. The now 24-year-old remains a talented player and his performances for Lille this season have continued to impress.
Yet it was inevitable that another injury issue would surface at some point and in the 25th minute of the 0-0 draw with Saint-Etienne last night, Sanches was taken off visibly holding his hamstring.
The extent of the injury is not yet known but is likely to keep him out of at least the Champions League second leg against Chelsea on Wednesday.
"We missed him tonight, he's a player who sets the pace, who can organize the game, to direct it. We'll do tests tomorrow [Saturday], I hope it's not too serious,” said Lille coach Jocelyn Gourvennec in his post-match interview.
"It seems compromised for Wednesday but I'm waiting for the results."
The price tag for Sanches would have been significant this summer and Arsenal cannot afford to invest in a player with such a high risk of injury.
Sanches has already missed 69 matches to 18 different injuries, with seven identified as hamstring issues over the course of his career. This current problem will be his eighth.
When Arsenal are looking to improve the players in their central midfield, they need to take into consideration the opportunity to sign those with greater consistency, not only in their performances but in their availability.
Arsenal have had plenty of injury-heavy midfielders such as Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Abou Diaby. They cannot afford to invest big money in the player who is to take them forwards in the role and see the same story repeat.
The Gunners have been linked to Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans. The Belgian, quoted with a price of £34m according to Het Nieuwsblad via The Express, has experienced just one injury since January of 2018.
He missed six games for the Foxes between November and December due to a calf problem.
Ruben Neves has not missed any matches for Wolves since arriving from Porto besides testing positive for COVID-19 in April of last year.
Borussia Monchengladbach’s Florina Neuhaus has also not registered a missed match for the Bundesliga side due to injury either.
All three options could give Arsenal’s midfield the quality it needs and the assurances regarding avoidance of injury that Renato Sanches simply cannot.
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