Fear of injury bothered Renato Sanches while at Swansea City

Bayern Munich midfielder Renato Sanches opened up to the Players’ Tribune (as captured by Wales Online) on why he thinks his time at Swansea City was considered by many to be a failure.

Renato Sanches admits he was “scared” of getting injured during his difficult loan spell with Swansea City. The midfielder joined Swansea on loan from Bayern Munich but made only 15 appearances in all competitions, failing to score a single goal for the club as the Swans were relegated from the Premier League.

Sanches’ inability to work through that fear of sustaining an injury certainly had an effect on his performance for the Swans.

When I went to Swansea, the intention was to get more minutes so I be called for the World Cup. But physically I was not fine, because I noticed how I am now, compared to six months ago, or a year ago, at Swansea. I feel the difference completely. I was running and would think of my leg, ‘I cannot tear it again’. I was scared. Of course, it hurts because you win the Euros, you’re elected the best young player in the tournament. Then the World Cup is coming and you want to play.

The poor experience abroad did not create any long-term issues for the 21-year-old, however. Sanches learned from his time in Wales and made improvements to his own game because of it.

I think things happen for a reason, so we can learn. I think there are certain things we do not know how to respond to and that we do not know how to say why they happened.

The admission on what his mentality was like with Swansea City was a brave and honest moment for Sanches. While he has not seen nearly as much game time as he would probably like in Munich, his form and decision-making on the pitch under Niko Kovac has been a marked improvement compared to his time in Wales or even his stint in Bavaria prior to the loan.

While not yet a player who can be considered a serious candidate for the starting XI, Sanches has at least put his career back on a positive trajectory in Germany.