Helander hopeful of strong start after early training in Sweden
Filip Helander hopes his lengthy wait for a comeback has a silver lining and allows him to reach new heights for Rangers.
The Sweden defender took some time to settle into the Scottish game but shone on his recall for a 1-1 draw against Porto on 24 October last year.
However,hisspellintheteam ended when he was injured in the Betfred Cup final defeat by Celtic on 8 December and he was just about to make a comeback when the coronavirus pandemic struck Scotland.
But Helander was able to train earlier than his Scotland-based team-mates after returning to Sweden and he is raring to go ahead of the 1 August kick-off.
The 27-year-old told the Rangers website: “When I arrived, I hadn’t had a pre-season so I was a bit behind everyone else, then when I started to play,bothoctoberandnovember I think I played well and then I got injured.
“Hopefully I can get to an even higher level now. I was back with the team just before
FILIP HELANDER “There is still alongway to go but no excuse not to be ready” the lockdown, so it has been a long time since I last played.
“But I have been in Sweden during the lockdown so I have had the possibility to train there and have some football back at home.
“Of course, there is still a long way to go, but whenever it is going to be, there is no excuse to not be ready and we are all looking forward to it.”
● Rangers revealed they had exceeded 40,000 season ticket sales hours before the renewal deadline.
Manchester City have agreed to sell Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich, in a deal worth €60 million (£54.8m) – €49m up front plus €11m in add-ons, it is understood.
The 24-year-old Germany winger, who joined City from Schalkefor£37min2016, had rejected numerous offers of a new contract.
It is believed Bayern will be paying €22m (£20m) in annual wages, which is double what City were offering.
Sane suffered knee ligament damage in the Community Shield clash with Liverpool last August and only made his return to action last week when he came off the bench against Burnley. He helped City win the Premier League twice, one FA Cup and two League Cups, and was the PFA young player of the year for 2017-18.
He has scored 25 goals and provided 28 assists in 90 league games for the Etihad Stadium outfit.
Speaking on 21 June, manager Pep Guardiola said of Sane: “He’s a young player with incredible potential, a special quality that is difficult to find all around the world but we tried before the injury, we tried again but he rejected it. He has other wishes and I understand.”