WHEN Scottish newspapers reported that Bayern Munich were after Celtic keeper Artur Boruc in 2008, Executive Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was quick to shoot down the story as a schottische Ente, a Scottish duck. (Baseless newspaper articles are colloquially referred to as ducks in Germany.)
Only last week, Rummenigge called goal.com's suggestion that coach Niko Kovac’s fate was sealed irrespective of the outcome of his quest for a domestic double “a total duck,” too. A Daily Record piece about the Bundesliga champions’ interest in Leroy Sané, by contrast, did not provoke any poultry-based comments from Säbener Strasse. There’s a reason for that. The story is accurate.
Bayern had initially planned to add Chelsea’s Callum-Hudson Odoi to their squad to provide cover and competition for Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman. (Youngster Alphonso Davies, 18, is not ready for regular football for the first team yet.) But Hudson-Odoi’s achilles injury and doubts over the physical durability of Coman, who has suffered from a number of ankle injuries, have forced a rethink.
Two weeks ago, a call went out to Germany’s best connected agents, informing them that Bayern were in the market for a proven performer on the flanks. Sané, 23, fits the bill perfectly. He’s young, a German international, a real difference-maker and most importantly, available. For the right price.
BILD |
FC Bayern are eager to sign Leroy Sane. They want a German wing duo (Sane & Gnabry) at Bayern. pic.twitter.com/cYEWEUaSYg
— Bayern mania (@Bayern_mania) May 22, 2019
It’s no secret that the former Schalke 04 forward has fallen foul of Pep Guardiola’s exacting standards this season. The player’s camp are working on the assumption that City are happy to cash-in now rather than keep Sané as a substitute with a diminishing sell-on value next season. His contract expires in 2021.
Whether this deal will ultimately go through will hinge on City’s valuation. Bayern want to spend less than the €80m they laid-out for French defender Lucas Hernandez. Guardiola’s good relations with the Munich hierarchy will help in the negotiations, but only to a point. City are aware of Sané’s enormous quality and huge marketability.
If the transfer does happen, Bayern could soon boast the entire front-line of the German national team. RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner, out of contract in 2020, is expected to don the red shirt by next year at the latest. There’s no question that Sané would make Bayern’s game more dynamic in the final third.
But there are also risks involved. The disciplinary problems that hampered his progress in the national team ahead of the 2018 World Cup will worry the club bosses. Bayern’s dressing room is a volatile place enough as it is, and Kovac – if he’s still around next season – can do without any more challenges to his fragile authority.
Ultimately, however, the benefits of signing the most talented German forward would outweigh any potential dangers. Bayern will push hard to make this one fly.
