German champion Bayern Munich Tuesday splashed out a reported 73 million euros ($83 million) to launch their Champions League campaign for next season by signing Germany defender Mats Hummels and Portugal teenager Renato Sanches. Sanches, strongly linked in British media with a move to Manchester United, will join the German champion in June on a five-year contract for 35 million euros ($39.82 million). "FC Bayern has been watching Renato Sanches for a long period," Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told the club website. "We're pleased we've been able to sign him despite big-name international competition. Renato is dynamic, a good tackler and a technically skilled midfielder who'll add even more strength to our team." The box-to-box midfielder has become a mainstay in Benfica coach Rui Vitoria's team, playing 30 games for the club after making his first-team debut in October. Sanches caught the eye with a mature display at Bayern's Allianz Arena when the two sides met in the Champions League quarterfinals last month. Bayern deputy chairman Jan-Christian Dreesen explained the fee his club paid for Sanches, who is widely regarded as one of the most promising young players in Europe. "The transfer fee for the current international, who was voted the Shooting Star of Portuguese Football in his home country yesterday evening, is 35 million euros, plus possible bonus payments that could become due if for example the player is named in the world team of the year or FIFA world player of the year," Dreesen said. Poyet takes over as Betis coach Gus Poyet, who has been in charge of AEK Athens this season, will be the new coach of Real Betis after the Spanish club said earlier Monday that incumbent Juan Merino would be leaving at the end of the campaign. "Betis have signed Uruguayan Gustavo Poyet for the next two seasons," the club said in a statement. The Seville-based side is 14th in the 20-team top-flight with 42 points from 37 matches. Betis, which is safe from relegation, plays its final La Liga game of the season at home to Getafe Sunday. Poyet joined AEK in October but announced last month, on the eve of a Greek Cup semifinal second leg match against Atromitos, that he would be quitting the club at the end of the season. Former Sunderland coach Poyet took over from Traianos Dellas on a deal until the end of the season with the option to renew for another two years. The former Uruguay midfielder is returning to Spanish football after a 19-year absence. Poyet, 47, played for Real Zaragoza between 1990-97, winning the King's Cup and the now-defunct European Cup Winners' Cup, before spending four years at Chelsea and then three years at London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. His first job as coach was with English team Brighton and Hove Albion between 2009-13. Poyet will attend a news conference in Seville Wednesday. — Agencies
