Scholl slams Golden Boy Sanches

Former Bayern Munich star Mehmet Scholl feels Renato Sanches is guilty of slowing the team down with his use of the ball.

The 19-year-old has made a total of nine appearances in all competitions since completing a move from Benfica for a fee that could increase to as much as €80million, depending on bonuses.

Sanches has enjoyed a remarkable rise to prominence in 2016, with his standout performances at club level and in Portugal’s Euro 2016 triumph earning him Tuttosport’s Golden Boy prize this month for the best young player in Europe.

However, following Bayern’s underwhelming 3-1 DFB-Pokal win over Augsburg on Wednesday, Scholl was left deeply unimpressed with the efforts of Sanches and fellow youngsters Julian Green and Kingsley Coman.

“Bayern plays well at the back and also in defensive midfield,” he told ARD. “Then there is Renato Sanches, who always keeps the ball too long. He never plays directly, he always wants to have some idea himself.

“Then there is Coman – same thing with him. He always wants to do his little dance. And there is Julian Green, who did not participate at all, his goal aside. Everyone else is playing very quickly, but there are three players missing in attack.

Scholl has questioned whether the likes of Green – who scored his first senior Bayern goal in the match at Allianz Arena – and even Douglas Costa are good enough to be long-term replacements for Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.

“It is nice for Green that he scored and he is a home-grown player. But what I consider a pity is, if you want to stay at Bayern, as he does, you have to show more presence,” he said. “Like Joshua Kimmich has.

“These players were bought to replace Ribery and Robben one day. But I don’t think they will be able to [do so] in the near future. I consider this a problem. I don’t see it with Coman, Sanches or Douglas Costa, either.”

Bayern face Augsburg again in the Bundesliga on Saturday.