Domestic treble winners Manchester City have reportedly rejected an offer from German giants Bayern Munich to sign winger Leroy Sane for £70 million. Bayern have been pursuing the German winger since the end of the season, with club President Karl-Heinz Rummenigge revealing that they were interested in signing him when he was at Schalke and that they will try everything to bring him to Allianz Arena in the summer transfer window.
The fee that Bayern offered for Sane is almost double of what City paid for him in 2016, when they signed him from Schalke for £37 million. The German international’s contract with Guardiola’s side expires two years from now in 2021. The Catalan manager revealed recently that the club want to extend his contract, but both parties haven’t agreed to one yet.
Sane hasn’t had the best of seasons personally, as he has been sidelined due to alleged ‘attitude problems’ as well as the excellent form of City’s attacking players like Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva. The 23-year-old started just 21 games and made a further 10 appearances from the bench in the Premier League, scoring 10 and assisting 10 times, which pales in comparison to Sterling’s stats as the Englishman finished the season with 17 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League.
Should Pep sell him for the right price?
The Sane situation is a unique one. He’s clearly a very talented player, who’s achieved a lot at the age of 23, and could take his playing abilities to greater heights in the years to come. One of the hottest prospects in the game currently, Sane’s poor attitude in training has perhaps cost him a permanent spot in the Manchester City first team, and it is quite likely that a manager like Guardiola will not tolerate any form of shortcoming which is in the control of the players.
Manchester City should cash in on Sane if they feel that he could possibly disrupt the squad as they have numerous options in wide areas with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, and Riyad Mahrez offering Guardiola alternative options to Sane.
Also, Pep’s gameplan for City’s left is heavily dependent on who is playing at left-back. Benjamin Mendy has hardly kicked a ball since joining City two years back but he is expected to regain full fitness by the start of next season. Given both Sane’s and Mendy’s strengths lie in going to the byline and whipping in crosses, we have seen Pep favour one or the other mostly when both have been available. This could play a small part in the transfer saga of Sane which seems likely to continue for a fair bit of the summer.
Considering all aspects, a fee of around £80 million would be a great price for a player who has just two years remaining on his contract.
