Manchester City have stepped up their interest in Germany international forward Leroy Sane, according to reports in the Guardian. The Sky Blues have been on Sane’s trail since December 2013 but have now upped the ante in their pursuit of the Schalke star but would hope to pay less than the €40m (£32m) the German club are holding out for.
Sane has been in impressive form this season, scoring five goals and assisting another five in all competitions as he made his national team debut against France in November. The 19-year-old is one of the most highly rated teenagers around, and a summer move to Eastlands is more likely than a January transfer.
City’s sporting director, Txiki Begiristain, is hoping to seal the deal in the winter but a summer move looks more realistic. Also given the forward only recently signed a new deal at Schalke in July 2015 that will keep him at the club till 2019, City’s chances of getting their prime target for cheap look very slim.
Moreover, when Manchester United paid an initial £36m last summer to Monaco to acquire the services of Anthony Martial, it set the standards for the price of a young up and coming talent who recently became a full international. And going by those standards, Schalke are hoping to get as much money as possible from the sale of Sane, who is valued by the club at £32m.
Begiristain and City are considered to be in pole position to sign Sane because of the high valuation of the player. Real Madrid are also interested and have scouted the player, while Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are also mooted as the youngster’s potential suitors. But few teams could match the financial clout of City, and the fact Sane is regarded as City’s prime target means he will be moving to Manchester sooner or later.
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