Bayern go cold on sane
GERMAN GIANTS LOOKING AT OTHER TARGETS AS ‘£130M’ CITY WINGER SHOWS ‘LACK OF COMMITMENT’
BAYERN Munich are rapidly going off the idea of signing Leroy Sane in the next transfer window, according to German sources.
The Bundesliga giants staged a very public pursuit of the City star last summer, and were preparing a big bid for the 24-year-old before he damaged knee ligaments during the Community Shield win over Liverpool in August.
City offered Sane a new deal, with his current contract due to expire in the summer of 2021, and were prepared to sell him rather than run the risk of losing him for nothing next year.
The injury put everything on hold – and now the coronavirus pandemic has further complicated the matter.
City wanted around £130m last summer, but realistically that demand will have to reduce. But sources in Germany suggest that Bayern are also going cool on the idea.
The sources claim that the Bundesliga giants feel that Sane is not showing enough commitment to joining them, and is more interested in the money.
That seems to have been sparked by Sane’s change of agent in January, which was portrayed in some quarters as indicating a determination to push through the switch.
But there is a feeling in Munich that the appointment of a new agent was about maximising his wage.
The source says that Bayern want to hear more about Sane’s desire to play for the European giants – and less about his financial demands.
WITH no football to focus on, it’s little surprise to see the transfer rumour mill kick into overdrive earlier than usual.
Normally, clubs like City would take each report with a pinch of salt and accept that their best players will be linked with the best clubs. But there is one link that has persisted in recent weeks that might force Pep Guardiola to change his long-term plans in attack and it involves Juventus and Gabriel Jesus.
Juventus could look to buy another striker this summer and have identified Jesus as a potential target along with Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez. Whichever one they choose will be guaranteed regular game time alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
Jesus’ agent recently said the player would not leave City unless the club wanted to sell him, but the longer he remains as Sergio Aguero’s understudy, the likelier it is that his frustration will begin to grow.
This season has been a significant one for Jesus as he finally appears to have shown Guardiola that he is too good to be playing second fiddle to Aguero.
Before the campaign was suspended, Jesus had forced Guardiola to adapt his tried and tested tactical approach and use him as a left-winger in the biggest game of the season at Real Madrid.
That progress will only serve to encourage Jesus that he is worthy of being City’s first choice striker as he is faced with the thankless task of trying to start ahead of the brilliant Aguero every week.
Still, Jesus has come on leaps and bounds this season, taking his chance whenever he has been handed an opportunity and doing so with a patience and self-belief that will take him to the top.
In fact, 13 of Jesus’ 18 goals this season have come away from home playing in a variety of different roles across the front line. You can’t accuse him of wasting the playing time he is given, however it comes.
In an ideal world, Jesus would continue to improve and work hard until Aguero leaves City and then be ready to take on the responsibility and demands that the club-record goalscorer leaves behind. The issue facing City now, though, is that Jesus is rapidly approaching the level required where he will rightly feel as though he should be a guaranteed starter, and Aguero is likely to be around for at least another 18 months.
Until City can offer Jesus the first choice status he needs, he will continue to be linked with a move away.