Rio Ferdinand says he would have ‘dragged Renato Sanches by the hair’ to sign him at Manchester United in the summer

RIO FERDINAND says he would have "dragged Renato Sanches by the hair" in order to sign him for Manchester United in the summer.

The Red Devils missed out on the Portuguese starlet, 19, after Bayern Munich paid £25.5million to Benfica for him.

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Jose Mourinho has already admitted he would not have given up on Sanches so easily if he was United boss at the time.

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Ferdinand, 38, who was part of the last United team to win the Premier League in 2013, said: "If I was a Man United scout, Renato Sanches would already be at the club.

"I'd have dragged him by his hair and said 'let's go!"

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Sanches impressed last season for Benfica and was named Young Player of the Tournament in Portugal's Euros triumph.

The midfielder - who has made ten appearances for Carlo Ancelotti's Bayern since his July transfer - also saw off Marcus Rashford to win the Golden Boy award for Europe's best young player this month.

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Ferdinand told Portuguese daily : "Renato is a modern player: Aggressive, strong, powerful, got technique, can shoot and pass. I like him. He's young, but takes responsibility."

Sanches revealed he opted to join Bayern because the Bundesliga giants "put in a lot of effort" to sign him.

He said: "I had a good feeling about it right away when I heard about Bayern Munich’s interest.

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“They really put in a lot of effort and I immediately got a feeling the people in charge believed in me as a player. That was the decisive factor behind my decision to join Bayern.

“Ancelotti always looks calm and in charge. You can just see he has a lot of experience. He is getting involved with his players a lot and is helping players to make individual progress.

“But I am also playing alongside a lot of world-class players here. I can learn from all of them, especially from the players who play in midfield like Arturo Vidal, Xabi Alonso and Thiago Alcantara.”