Lille’s Renato Sanches has been linked with a transfer to Liverpool, again.

The Portuguese midfielder was once regarded as one of the hottest properties in European football, having joined Bayern Munich from Benfica in July 2016 for £31.5m.

However, after a largely unsuccessful spell in Bavaria, during which he was sent out on loan to Swansea City, many were left wondering if the former wonderkid could ever get a once-promising career back on track.

Having made just 53 appearances for the Bundesliga giants, he was sold to Lille in the summer of 2019 for £18m and to date he’s made close to 50 appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit.

According to a recent report from Calciomercato, Sanches‘ mini-revival in France has led to admiration from a number of Italian clubs. However, more bizarrely, it is added that he is ‚destined‘ to join Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool…

This appears to be a reference to a December report from TuttoMercatoWeb which claimed that Liverpool had ‚reached an £18m agreement‘ for the 23-year-old midfielder.

Ultimately that rumour came to nothing in the January transfer window, with Liverpool focussed on defenders. However, Calciomercato’s new piece has caused a stir amongst Liverpool fans.

The Reds have experienced a difficult campaign and currently find themselves 19 points off of the league leaders Manchester City, but is the Portuguese midfielder the answer to their problems?

The Anfield club have been riddled with injuries this season, most notably in defence and as such they’ve had to fill the positions with the likes of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho – central midfielders by trade.

But that feels very much like a temporary fix and with the emergence of Curtis Jones as well as the summer signing of Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich, it feels unlikely Liverpool’s priority in the transfer market will be to bring in a player of Sanches‘ profile.

Taking into account the player’s form and own injury record over the past few seasons which has been sketchy at best, it seems highly improbable, contrary to the latest resurfacing of the rumours that Sanches will end up at Anfield.