Sané: Manchester City fear Bayern move for winger
The Germany international is stalling on a new contract and has had to accept rotation this season with Riyad Mahrez, David Silva and Raheem Sterling.
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are bracing for a summer tug-of-war over Germany international winger Leroy Sané, who has emerged as a target for Bayern Munich and is currently stalling on a new contract at the Premier League champions amid concerns over his playing time.
Sané has had a remarkable season at the Etihad, scoring 15 goals and providing 18 assists in 43 appearances in all competitions but the wealth of attacking options that Guardiola possesses means that the 23-year-old is not assured of a permanent starting role.
Guardiola has several players of a similar ilk to Sané and has rotated in 2018-19 after the summer addition of Riyad Mahrez to an attacking line that already includes Raheem Sterling, David Silva, Kevin de Bruyne and the advanced midfield role Bernardo Silva offers.
Sané stalling on new Manchester City contract
Sané comes in at number 11 in a list of Guardiola’s most-used players this season but in recent weeks he has been increasingly used as a substitute or confined to the bench, alerting Bayern Munich to the prospect of luring Sané to the Allianz Arena as part of their planned summer spending spree. Talks on a contract extension between the player and the City board began last December, but as yet nothing has been finalized and Sané’s current deal runs until 2021.
Bayern could stretch to somewhere in the region of 100 million euros for the winger this summer, given that the Bundesliga giants will need a ready-made replacement for Franck Ribéry, whose contract expires at the end of the current season with Bayern yet to offer an extension. Arjen Robben has already announced that he will be leaving Bavaria this summer.
That leaves City and Guardiola with a headache: offer Sané the earth and a guarantee of undisputed starter status, or risk losing a player the Spaniard has described as “the best in the world out wide” to a direct European rival.