Ligue 1 expert Adam White insists that midfielder Renato Sanches is unlikely to join Liverpool this summer because of the injury he has recently sustained.

The midfielder has undergone an operation to repair an injured knee, which is likely to rule him out for up to six weeks, per Goal.

They report that both Liverpool and Barcelona have been linked with potential swoops to sign the £27m-rated midfielder, who has enjoyed a return to prominence in recent seasons.

The Portugal international was vaunted as one of the hottest prospects in world football when he made his breakthrough at Benfica but he struggled after a move to Bayern Munich and also flopped in a loan move to Swansea City.

But since the move to Lille, he has developed into one of the finest midfielders in Europe, making 60 appearances for the club in total and also going to Euro 2020 with Portugal in the summer.

But White believes that the injury has all but ruled out any prospect of a transfer this summer.

The journalist, who covers Ligue 1 for The Guardian, said: “It’s an interesting one with Sanches. Obviously the injury isn’t particularly helpful and I think it probably ruins his chances of a move this summer.

“He was actually relatively up and down last season. I thought he was really good last week against Metz when they came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3.”