Rumours in the media lately have it that Manchester United have beaten the likes of Arsenal and Bayern Munich to the signing of young Benfica midfielder Renato Sanches. According to The Mirror, the Red devils have agreed to pay the Portuguese’s full £63 million release clause but will only pay £47 million upfront and spread the rest over the course of the next four years.

This is somewhat ( I will explain why it is somewhat ) good news for the club as it means they are doing their transfer business ahead of time and not waiting for the window to officially open. Waiting for the window to officially open before making moves in the transfer window may make it a little more difficult to convince players to sign for the Red devils especially as there is a real chance of United not playing in the Champions league next season and the European Championships are happening this summer in France which typically delays transactions.

Renato Sanches from the little I have seen off him is a good player, one with a bright future in the game. However, he has done nothing to justify being a £63 million player hence I said “somewhat”. If Manchester United, Arsenal and Bayern Munich are interested in you, you are certainly doing something right and it is no doubt that the 18-year-old midfielder has lots of potential but for £63 million, United could do better than signing a player who is just a POTENTIAL that may not be realised.

The problem with paying so much for potential is years after, the potential could remain exactly that, potential. For instance, Arsenal’s Theo Walcott was said to be a player with great potential 10 years ago, today, 10 years after, he is still said to be a player with great potential. That potential has not been truly realised and probably won’t be. Imagine if Arsenal had paid £63 million to sign him?

When in 2007, Manchester United paid £20 million (is around £35 million today ) to sign Anderson from Porto back then, many were raving about how big a potential the Brazilian had. Unfortunately almost 10 years later, he is yet to fulfill the said potential and has since left the club on a free transfer proving to be nothing more than waste of money.

This is why Manchester United needs to exercise caution with Renato Sanches.