Arsenal in Renato Sanches transfer boost as Barcelona rule themselves out of running for Lille star

ARSENAL have been given a transfer boost with Barcelona reportedly ruling themselves out of the running for Renato Sanches.

El Nacional claims the Lille midfielder is ready for a new adventure this summer.

But Barcelona boss Xavi is not convinced Sanches has the right attributes to succeed in Spain.

The Portugal international struggled to impress during his time with Bayern Munich.

And despite reinventing himself at Lille, Xavi does not agree with Barcelona president Joan Laporta that a move for Sanches makes sense.

It’s added that the playmaker nearly joined Barcelona last summer under Ronald Koeman before suffering an injury.

But with Xavi now calling the shots, Sanches’ route to Catalonia has come to a dead end.

That means Arsenal could be in pole position to sign the Euro 2016 winner, who spent the 2017/18 campaign in England’s top flight with Swansea.

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Mikel Arteta is facing a crisis in midfield, with players either injured or way on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.

And Sanches could be the man to save Arsenal’s season after they were brutally dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship side Nottingham Forest.

Confirming Arsenal’s interest himself, Sanches revealed in November:“Maybe AC Milan and Arsenal are interested but I don’t know.

“Milan are a big and historic club. It’s class, I like them.

“I spoke with my agent, I know which clubs are calling and which are not, but I can’t tell now.

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"But I know I’m ready. If an offer comes in, I’ll find out what’s best for me."

On his failed Barcelona move, Sanches added: "Many clubs were interested this summer, when I sustained the injury, I understood that I would have stayed at Lille.

“It was all done with Barcelona, I think it all collapsed because of the injury.”