Bayern chairman explains how United uncertainty cemented Sanches move

When Bayern Munich made a summer swoop for prodigious Portuguese international Renato Sanches, it was amid heaps of speculation that the teenage Benfica midfielder was poised to join Manchester United.

Instead, he and Mats Hummels put pen to paper on deals with the Bavarian giant early in the window, and after months of hearsay, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has explained how that all came about.

Rarely usurped for a targeted player, Rummenigge has revealed that the Red Devils missed out on the Euro 2016 winner because of uncertainty surrounding the appointment of a manager after Louis van Gaal's disastrous spell at Old Trafford ended in May.

"We knew very well that Renato had a firm offer from Manchester United," Rummenigge told Sport Bild, courtesy of ESPN FC.

"I heard that the United deal couldn't be completed, as they didn't know who their next manager would be," Rummenigge admitted. "We invited Benfica's president and Sanches' agent to Madrid and that night we shook hands on the transfer."

Rummenigge adds that a move for Sanches took a major step on the eve of Bayern's Champions League semi-final defeat to Atletico Madrid in April, as both the Bundesliga champ and United monitored the robust midfield talent.

In the end, Bayern Munich was the victor, with Sanches pegged to eventually assume Xabi Alonso's role in the club's star-studded midfield.

Bayern gaffer Carlo Ancelotti has called Sanches "a phenomenon" and "one of the best players at Euro 2016," and the Italian could not be more right.