Why Leroy Sane should leave Bayern Munich in this transfer window

FT Desk

30 Aug 2022 22:28 BST
3 min read

Leroy Sane, Bayern Munich, 2022/23 — © ProShots

Leroy Sane was Bayern Munich's flagship summer signing when he arrived from Manchester City in July 2020. He should now get back to the Premier League as a matter of urgency.

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Sane's €60 million signing was a boon for Bayern, a boon for their sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, and indeed a boon for the Bundesliga, proving that they could attract an elite level Premier League performer at the height of his career.

But he is now struggling to scale the heights he did at City, where he scored 39 goals and laid on 46 assists in 135 games, winning two Premier League titles along the way.

More than meets the eye

Sane has also won two Bundesligas in his two years with Bayern and his 27 goals and 28 assists in 94 games gives him a remarkably similar minutes per goal-involvement.

"That time left a strong mark on me," Sane later reflected of his time in Manchester. "And I still benefit from it today. [Pep Guardiola] practically reprogrammed me on a tactical level in Manchester."

But where Guardiola obsessed about Sane's game, Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann effectively ignores him when he can.

Since Robert Lewandowski left for Barcelona in a €50m deal, Nagelsmann has dispensed with having a point at his attack, effectively lining up with a system that accommodates four players in Sane's profile at once.

The problem is, Sane isn't in Nagelsmann's top four for the role, or even his top five, with Sadio Mane - a €41m arrival from Liverpool - Thomas Muller, Jamal Musiala, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry all ahead of him in the pecking order.

Sane didn't start a game until Matchday 3 in the Bundesliga this season, and only then it was because Musiala was injured.

Despite Gnabry's injury, Leroy Sané still played with the B team in today's training. Kingsley Coman replaced Gnabry in the A team and started alongside Mané, Müller and Musiala in the front four. Gnabry is not expected to be out for a long time [@BILD] pic.twitter.com/ymkF3eNyT9
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) August 17, 2022

Sane found himself on the B team in training even when Gnabry had joined Musiala on the sidelines recently, and he might do well to now call time on his Bayern career.

"He raised me to a completely new level," Sane also said of Pep. "He did did it every day until I did at some point have a little man in my ear with his voice that told me what to do when and how."

City lost Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus to Chelsea and Arsenal respectively this summer, so they could do with a winger for added strength in depth. Maybe it's time Sane got his agent to have a word in Guardiola's ear.