EMIRATES FA CUP SEMI-FINAL ARSENAL THE MANC Guardiola’s given Sane the confidence to be just like his superstar at Barcelona
THE name is Leroy, not Lionel – but, if Pep Guardiola gets his way, Sane will bring a touch of Messi to Manchester City.
Former Barcelona boss Guardiola would move mountains to see Messi in a City shirt after their spectacular time together at the Nou Camp (below).
But in the absence of a football miracle, Sane has revealed how the Spanish coach is trying to turn him into a sky-blue version of the great Argentinian.
The 21- year- old German international winger makes his first visit to Wembley today as City take on Arsenal in their FA Cup semi-final.
And Sane has given an intriguing insight into how Guardiola is using his experience of coaching Messi to make the £42million City youngster think like the Barcelona genius and take his game to the next level.
Confidence
“When I was growing up, my heroes were Messi and Ronaldinho. They were my idols because they played free,” said Sane.
“They played with a lot of happiness, tried to score in every game and tried to be the best player on the pitch.
“So to work with Pep Guardiola who worked with Messi is amazing. He is able to help me with things because he knows how Messi plays.
“He knows how he trains, what he did in training sessions and i n the games because he saw him every day.
“That’s why he gives me confidence to say, ‘Yes, try this – try maybe to do it like this, like Messi does or Neymar – and he helps me a lot like this.”
That is bad news for Arsene Wenger and an Arsenal team who have already felt the full force of Sane’s goal power after he scored in both their top-flight battles.
Arsenal were Sane’s first scoring victims with a debut Premier League goal against the Gunners in December.
He said: “Manchester City paid a lot of money for me. It was a big transfer. I had a long season before this one and I tried to get comfortable, to know the city, the country and the league.
“I tried my best to do it quickly. It was difficult, but then, the week before the Arsenal game, it clicked and I scored my first goal.
“It was a good week in training, it went very well. That was like the time to say, ‘Yes, now it is time to carry on’. The coach told me to play free and with confidence.
“Before that, I wasn’t playing with that freedom. I was young and when I played against bigger clubs I was thinking, ‘OK, they are better than me’.
“But Pep took me aside and told me, ‘Just play how you played at Schalke because you were free there. Players here are all normal human beings, so just play your best and play free’.”
Sane has heeded the advice from his manager and, in his 30 appearances since joining City, he has netted nine goals and added three assists.
His pace and athleticism have been handed down by parents Regina Weber, a 1984 Olympic bronze medal gymnast, and dad Souleymane Sane, a rapid Senegalese i nternational footballer in his day.
Serious
Despite his high- achieving parents, Sane had a normal family upbringing with no pressure to be a sportsman – and a Big Mac on the menu when he wanted. “It was like any normal family, growing up. For sure, my parents knew what I had to eat, how to prepare for training sessions and what behaviour was needed to be serious about my football. “But they were never pushy and t h e r e was no pressure. They gave me the choice. If I wanted to go to McDonald’s they said, ‘OK’. “It wasn’t like I couldn’t eat certain things, so sometimes I went to McDonald’s!” Under Guardiola’s strict dietary regime that is off the menu for Sane – but if he grabs the winner today, who knows, the Spaniard just might turn a blind eye.