Bayern sensing a bargain for long-time target Sane
BY THE NEXT WINDOW SANE WILL HAVE JUST A FEW MONTHS LEFT ON HIS CONTRACT
BAYERN Munich are hoping to land Leroy Sane on the cheap, with the coronavirus pandemic expected to depress the football transfer market.
The City star will be in the final year of his contract by the time this year’s window opens - expected to be in August but could be even later - and there are no signs that he has budged from his refusal to sign a new deal with the Blues.
The fact that the 24-year-old picked up an anterior cruciate ligament injury last summer, just before Bayern made their move, will inevitably lead to City being forced to drop their initial valuation.
The Bundesliga club pursued a blatant policy of wooing the player before that injury, in the Community
Shield win over Liverpool, with the tactic annoying the hierarchy at City.
The club made a direct complaint to Bayern, who issued a public apology.
They slapped a price tag of £145million on the Germany international, a fee which would have made him the most expensive footballer in history, after Neymar.
Bayern were banking on a fee of between £90million and £100million, but while there was still two years on the player’s contract, City held the aces. The injury changed that, ruling Sane out for most of the season - and he is still to return to action despite being back in training since January.
By the time the next window opens, Sane will have just a few months before his contract expires, and he could leave City for nothing.
There have been misgivings among some Bayern officials and former players about Sane, feeling that he is focussing too much on the money on offer rather than showing a desire to play for the German giants.
But the men who matter manager Hansi Flick and football director Hasan Salihamidzic apparently remain steadfast in their desire to land the player. And new president Herbert Hainer, who has replaced Uli Hoeness, indicated that he expects to take the club’s transfer targets for much lower prices than normal, with the financial effects of the coronavirus expected to depress the market.
He would not talk about individual targets but when asked about transfer business said: “Reliable predictions are difficult, it is obvious that there will be changes. “I agree with Uli Hoeness if he assumes that the transfer amounts will decrease. It is logical. If the income falls, there is less money overall in the circuit.”
The men who matter remain steadfast in their desire to land the player
Stuart Brennan