Santos: Sanches has not lied about age

Renato Sanches has been one of Euro 2016's star performers which has seen the 18-year-old play with maturity beyond his years. 

However, such performances have led to allegations that the midlfielder has lied about his age. 

French manager Guy Roux - who managed Auxerre for over 40 years - has claimed that Renato Sanches is not actually 18 years old. 

"I can assure you he is actually 23 or 24," he told Romanian broadcaster Dolce Sport. 

Portugal manager Fernando Santos came to the defence of his wonderkid. 

"Sanches was born in Portugal, not just anywhere else, in Portugal. He is 18," he said.

"I'm 61. There's no doubt about that. I was born 61 years ago and I'm 61.  He was born 18 years ago and he's 18."

Roux's comments are based on an investigation carried out by Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias that showed that Sanches' date of birth was not confirmed until 2002, five years after he was born in 1997. 

However, it is understood that this was due to Sanches' parents splitting up at a young age and it has been confirmed that Sanches is 18 years old.