Renato Sanches not in squad for Swansea finale

It is not only on the pitch that Renato Sanches’s decision-making is questionable. The former youth star on loan from Bayern Munich to Swansea City decided that the very day after Swansea lost a crucial relegation battle against Southampton was the time to take to Twitter to advertise forthcoming Renato Sanches emojis:

The tweet infuriated Swansea City fans. Wales Online has collected some of the—ahem—polite reactions. The top response, not quoted by the newspaper, says it all:

Swansea coach Carlos Carvalhal was not amused, calling the blunder outright “stupid.” Carvalhal believes the poorly timed tweet is a product of the fact that Sanches allows others to run his social media:

I heard about it [the tweet], I have not seen it.

When we put things not about football in someone else’s hands they think they are doing a good thing. But they are doing one of the most stupid things in the world.

I always tell players not to put social media in the hands of other people. You can give it to someone with experience who will know what to do, but many give it to their friends who can be stupid and create these situations.

I have seen it happen often, trouble with social media, even though you tell players to be careful because it is their face on it.

Carvalhal thus gives Sanches the benefit of the doubt in assuming he himself does not run his very intermittent social media.

Sanches invited to go home ahead of Swansea’s final game

Carvalhal confirmed that Renato Sanches would not feature in Swansea’s squad for the final game of the season, a futile relegation duel with Stoke City. Carvalhal said that Sanches’s poorly timed tweet did not play a part in his decision:

Renato will not be involved on Sunday. He will not be on the bench. It is not about that [the emoji post]. It is because Leon [Britton] will instead be on the bench in his last Swansea game.

Swansea need a miracle to avoid relegation: they have to beat Stoke and hope Southampton lose at home to Manchester City, while improving their goal difference by 10.

Carvalhal told Sanches he could go home on Wednesday. Sanches reportedly wanted to train with the team, but Carvalhal did not know whether he would be present at Swansea’s final game. At the time of this writing, Swansea are leading Stoke 1-0.

Carvalhal frankly acknowledged Sanches’s poor performance and acknowledges a return to Benfica in Portugal, which was rumored earlier in the week, would be best:

He knows that he did a very bad season. The press are talking that maybe he can go back to Benfica and, if that is the reality, that is the best step for him. Renato jumped very fast from the under-19 team to the national team, but was he ready to go out of Portugal to a big club? In my opinion, no, because he is a boy.

After failing to contribute any goals or assists in twelve appearances for Swansea, Sanches may have a difficult time finding a suitor in Europe’s top leagues.

Source: Sky Sports, Wales Online.