Renato Sanches believes he is ‘ready’ to leave Lille and once again prove himself at a top club after reportedly hinting at interest from Arsenal.
Sanches has previously played for Bayern Munich after bursting on the scene at Euro 2016 with Portugal, where he played a key role in their success in France.
But he failed to settle at the German giants, and via a flop spell at Swansea City, arrived at Lille in 2019.
Now he is thriving at the French champions and despite his poor year at the Liberty Stadium in the 2017-18 campaign is once again being linked with a Premier League move.
According to AS, Arsenal and Tottenham are interested in the midfielder with Barcelona also showing keeping tabs, having failed with a summer bid.
Sanches himself though has reportedly admitted he is ready to leave Lille as early as the January transfer window.
‘Who is interested in me? Maybe Milan and Arsenal are interested, but I don’t know, he told L’Equipe via the Mirror.
‘I talked to my agent, I know which clubs are calling and which are not, but now I can’t tell. But I know I’m ready. If it happens, I’ll see what’s best for me.
‘Milan? It’s a great club, a historic club. It’s classy. I like it. I was supposed to go to Barcelona in the summer, then my injury blew everything up. Leave in January? I know I’m ready. If an offer comes in.’
Sanches also believes that at 24 years old he is now ready to rise to the challenge of playing for a top European side.
He added: ‘When I arrived at Bayern, I was not ready to play in such a club. I was very young.
‘And when I got ready, the opportunity to play with this team never came.
‘Today I feel ready. I understand football better, I have more experience, I know what to do to play in this kind of club and that changes everything.’
Lille will be hopeful they can hang on to the Portugal international but club president Olivier Letang reportedly confirmed he has a gentleman’s agreement over allowing him to depart if a ‘big club’ shows interest.
‘I have already spoken about it and I have already discussed with him, if an offer from a big club arrives, Renato (Sanches) will be able to leave,’ he told BFM Lille.