The Atheltic’s Manchester City journalist Sam Lee recently discussed the ongoing transfer saga of Leroy Sane, and how much he believes the club will end up receiving for the winger.
Sane featured for the first time in the Premier League this season on Monday, coming off the bench during the club’s 5-0 demolition of Burnley.
However, that appearance could well be one of the last times that Sane pulls on a Manchester City shirt, as the player has been continuously linked with a summer move to Bayern Munich throughout the course of this season.
From City’s point of view, they are in somewhat of a tricky situation with the winger, as Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Sane does indeed want to leave the club, however, Bayern Munich seem to be unwilling to offer City anywhere near as much as they would like for the player.
Normally, this would not be a problem for a club with the wealth of City. However, with Sane’s contract expiring next summer, if City fail to agree on a fee for the player over the upcoming transfer window, they risk losing the £72m-rated winger for nothing next year.
On this topic, Sam Lee recently stated on The Athletic’s Why Always Us? podcast how much he thinks City will end up getting for Sane.
He said: “It would be in character for Bayern to make a low offer, not have City accept it, and then try and sign Sane on a free next year with a big signing on fee.
“Now, obviously, there’s loads of danger from Bayern’s point of view because, if you’re a Real Madrid or something, why don’t you just go and offer him [Sane] loads of money? But I don’t think it’s as clear cut now as ‘he’s going to go in the summer’ because I think there is that possibility that Bayern might try and lowball him and use the money for Kai Havertz or something like that.
“But my gut feeling is I think City might even come to a compromise. I mean, the number I’ve got in my head now, which people shouldn’t read too much into, because it’s just how it feels to me, but I’m thinking now £40-£50m, that might be as much as you get.”
TIF Thoughts…
The thought of selling Sane for as little as £40m is certainly a gut-wrenching one, as City had previously turned down an offer of £70.7m for the winger, in addition to the fact that the player is worth a great deal more than the amount stated by Lee.
Would you still be happy for City to sell Sane to Bayern?
Yes
No
However, as Lee also states, the club may well have to compromise, as it is likely that they would rather receive something rather than nothing for Sane.