Pep gets his man in £42m Sane deal
HE WAS a name only truly beginning to resonate around Manchester City at the turn of this year, but one who will today become Pep Guardiola’s most expensive signing at the Etihad.
Leroy Sane is in town. Guardiola fixed his gaze on the nippy 20-yearold Schalke winger while he was manager at Bayern Munich and has been adamant he would bring him to England this summer.
The fee, standing at an initial £37million, is huge for a youngster with just 47 Bundesliga appearances, and a player few City supporters had heard of just a few months ago. And the cost could rise to £42m if all performance-related clauses kick in.
A five-year deal is a show of faith by City’s boss and those who employed him. Guardiola’s lavish praise for the player back in November can now be seen as a precursor to landing Germany’s most exciting prospect.
‘Leroy is a huge talent,’ he said. ‘I can only congratulate Germany on having a talent like him.’
The interest was clear and it was only a matter of time before Sane moved to the Etihad stadium once Guardiola’s role at City had been confirmed officially.
Little over nine months later, Sane was checking into a city- centre hotel, gearing up to smile and lift a shirt at the Etihad after yesterday’s medical checks over the road at the new Institute of Health and Performance.
That is next door to the City academy, where Sane will be fine-tuned into the wide running machine Guardiola wants to mould, harnessing his obvious eye for goal — eight in 33 games last season — and finessing his individualistic style.
Going past one, two, three players — with a trick this way and that — will be encouraged so long as the final product arrives. It may take weeks and months to tweak but Guardiola, a religious viewer of other Bundesliga teams during his three years at Bayern, has seen more than enough. This deal has taken time, so long in fact that Schalke’s sporting director Christian Heidel imposed a negotiating deadline of yesterday to thrash out the details. Yet City remained patient and Guardiola has his man. Schalke dug in their heels even though their prized asset made his feelings on leaving abundantly clear, new head coach Markus Weinzierl ringing him in a desperate bid to change his mind. Guardiola’s allure was too strong, however, and Sane will now become the third major signing sporting director Txiki Begiristain has delivered for his great friend. Spain international Nolito, £14m from Celta Vigo, arrived after Euro 2016 with Ilkay Gundogan — £21m from Borussia Dortmund and the midfield pivot — already in the bag. Oleksandr Zinchenko, a teenage Ukraine international from Ufa, has also joined as spending under the ownership of Sheik Mansour over the last eight years storms past the £900m mark. Sane is not expected to make an immediate impact, though. Guardiola has nine forward players at his disposal and — even with the expectation of one from Wilfried Bony, Jesus Navas or Samir Nasri departing before month’s end — has quite the talent stable. Nolito is certainly not here to kick his heels on the bench, while Raheem Sterling is admired by his manager, who sent him encouraging messages throughout a chastening European Championship experience. Kevin De Bruyne — back in training yesterday after a stunning first season with City — will be central, while David Silva remains a revered figure. Sergio Aguero is the main attacking protagonist but in Sane Guardiola believes he has secured another potent weapon.