The departure of Manchester City’s German winger Leroy Sane has a hit a potential financial impasse, with Bayern Munich’s President, Uli Hoeness, commenting on the ‘difficult’ nature of the transfer.
Sane, 23, played a starring role for City in their title-winning, centurion season in 2017/18, but the German forward struggled for sustained minutes in the most recent campaign, having been omitted from Joachim Lowe’s national squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The £37m signing from Schalke, awarded Young PFA Player of the Year in 2018, played 1857 minutes in the Premier League during the 2018/19 campaign – down from 2415 in the previous season – owing to a combination of Pep Guardiola’s alternative selections and injury.
The forward still scored 10 league goals in 2018/19, as he did in 2017/18, and whilst this does represent a stronger goal output, it is the inconsistency in Sane’s performances that may play a crucial role in Guardiola sanctioning his departure.
This is only if a deal can be struck, and as Uli Honeness alluded to earlier this week, this will not be a simplistic transfer given the financial muscle of City and the salary-based demands of Sane himself.
“I don’t have the exact numbers yet but the financial aspect will be critical. The whole package is difficult” said Hoeness.
Sane’s perceived positioning in City’s squad, from the perspective of Bayern, is that he disposal and if the Bavarian giants were to make a bid above City’s expenditure in 2016, there is a chance of bringing the forward back to Germany.
Guardiola is unlikely to be keen to part ways with Sane, but with Bayern’s old-guard departing the Allianz this summer in the form of Frank Ribery and Arjen Robben, the Bundesliga Champions will be extremely eager to bring in new, fresh talent as they bid to retain their domestic title and mount a push for Champions League glory.
City will not be short of attacking replacements should Sane swap the Etihad for the Allianz, with Guardiola also retaining the option of switching the formation of his attacking line and incorporating Gabriel Jesus alongside a trident of Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and a central attacking player such as Kevin de Bruyne as the Citizens bid for a third successive Premier League title to build upon their domestic treble in 2018/19.
