West Ham United turned down the chance to sign Renato Sanches prior to his loan move to Swansea City.
West Ham United fans were shocked when it was revealed that their manager Slaven Bilic turned down the chance to sign Renato Sanches on loan earlier this summer.
After all, the Hammers needed quality additions in the centre of the park with Mark Noble struggling for form, but the Bayern Munich youngster instead headed for a temporary stint at Swansea City.
As a result, West Ham supporters would have kept a close eye on the 20-year-old’s Premier League debut against Newcastle United on Sunday, with the Magpies running out 1-0 winners.
Sanches had some decent early touches but too often his passes were under-cooked or wasteful and he was replaced shortly after the hour-mark with little to shout about but plenty to digest.
The Premier League is an unforgiving arena and far more experienced players than Sanches have struggled in their early outings – just ask Patrice Evra – but West Ham fans would have been forgiven for having a wry smile just days after they were bemoaning their manager’s seemingly inexplicable decision.
The truth appears somewhere in between, with the Portuguese international likely to improve as he gets used to his new teammates and make a decent impact at Swansea, although he is unlikely to be the midfield monster West Ham feared they may have missed out on.
Only time will tell how things play out yet West Ham have to make do with the players they have while Swansea look to coax the best out of an undeniable talent.
After Sanches’s debut we took to Twitter to see what West Ham supporters thought and you can read a selection of what we found below:
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