After a season in and out of the starting lineup, Leroy Sane may be leaving Manchester City. The 23-year-old German winger is reportedly a summer target of Bayern Munich. The German giants have made their intentions to reclaim their place amongst Europes richest clear, and a move for Sane could be the rare best-for-all-parties scenario.
Sane To Bayern Is Best For All
Why Leave Manchester?
It’s a tough question to ask, Why is a young superstar leaving a team that just won their country’s first ever domestic treble? The answer is always going to come down to multiple factors and facets. With regards to Leroy Sane, it starts with a basic fact, he does not fit into Pep Guardiola’s formation.
Right or wrong, Pep has always built his teams to play with inverted wingers. Right footers on the left and left footers on the right are his tactic, going all the way back to Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi at Barcelona. Leroy Sane is left-footed winger, who plays at his best on the left-hand side. He played nearly 1,900 in the Premier League this season and all of them were on the left side of the front three.
But in this his third season at the Etihad, Sane came off the bench 10 times, after coming off the bench 11 times the last two seasons. He was on the bench in big games like both legs against Tottenham and the FA Cup Final. It had been made clear, both by Guardiola and by production, that Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva have to be the starting wingers.
It’s easy to see why an elite footballer would look elsewhere as he has lost his place. Manchester City would never admit this, but they would probably be better off if Sane were to sign with Bayern Munich.
City’s Benefit
Manchester City is facing a crucial summer for the development of their project. For years they have skated by UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules without serious sanctions. But the newest case UEFA has on the club and their ownership is the most damning and could lead to the club being thrown out of next season’s Champions League.
The club has been aware of this for some time and has been doing their best to balance the books. Over the last three transfer windows, they have only made one signing, Riyad Mahrez. Everton, a club with less than half the revenue of Manchester City, has spent more than twice City has in that time.
Manchester City wants to add depth to the back end of their squad in order to push for a Champions League title; barring expulsion. They have been heavily linked to Rodrigo Hernandez of Atletico Madrid, along with Ben Chilwell at Leicester City. Both players would be important back-end reinforcements for a Champions League run.
It is much easier to make those purchases if there is already money coming via a sale. And while Leroy Sane is a great talent, he plays at a position of strength for Manchester City. Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez have all played on the left-hand side of the front three this season.
So Leroy Sane should leave Manchester if City and Bayern can agree on a fee. Manchester City doesn’t need to keep Sane, nor does Leroy Sane need to stay in Manchester. But Bayern Munich wants to get back to the top of Europe. For that, they might just need Leroy Sane.
Bayern’s Place
Bayern Munich has made their intentions this summer as clear as day. Since the January report that they were in for Lucas Hernandez, they have been wheeling and dealing. They have already signed Hernandez and fellow World Cup winner Benjamin Pavard for next season. There are already rumours that Timo Werner and Kai Havertz have made Leon Goretzka-style agreements to come to Bayern in the future.
So adding Leroy Sane will be the perfect addition to that already loaded mix. With Sane on one wing and Serge Gnabry on the other, Bayern will have the formidable wing combination past Bavarians have thrived on. But there is still the question of the price Bayern is willing to pay for Leroy Sane.
Fabrizio Romano of Sky Sports reported that Bayern had started negotiations with an €80 million bid. That is a good place to start but I do not think Manchester City will just accept that money. They would probably like to get something in the range of €120 million. The number will most likely fall in the region of €100-115 million.
Bayern seem like they are willing to go there, hell they paid €80 million for a defender. But only time will tell if they really are. If they really want back into the top of European Football, this is the type of move they need to make.
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