Report: Man City Rejects Bayern Munich's Big Opening Bid for Leroy Sane
Manchester City have rejected Bayern Munich's opening bid of £70.7m for winger Leroy Sane, with the German champions expected to return with a follow-up offer.
Sane has been a hot topic in Bavaria in recent times, with several players and members of staff backing his potential arrival, so it was hardly a shock when the team submitted their €80m bid for the forward last week. Nor was it a shock that the domestic treble winners rejected this opening approach, with Pep Guardiola keen to keep the 23-year-old in Manchester.
As reported by the Guardian, Bayern tabled the bid with the hope of replacing at least one of the departing duo of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, but they will have to do better than the initial £70.7m, with City holding out as it stands.
It is understood that the Bundesliga outfit will now consider whether to widen their coffers with a second bid, with the prevailing expectation being that this particular transfer saga is far from over, especially given City's acknowledgement that, should the right offer come in, they possess sufficient talent in wide areas to combat the loss.
The 23-year-old, who was infamously snubbed from Die Mannschaft's 2018 World Cup squad, has been used fairly sparingly by Guardiola this term, particularly for a player as talented as himself, but this does not mean that the tactician is keen to let the youngster leave.
On the contrary, as the coach explained: “We offered to extend his contract. We want him to stay. What proof is more than for six, seven months we want to extend his contract? If we don’t want him, we don’t extend his contract."
However, he did later concede: “Some movements we have to do for next season, because people want to leave, players want to play. They accept not playing for a period but it’s normal that they want to play more. I can’t assure that to anyone so I understand completely.”
For his part, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has admitted: “We will try. I can not promise whether it will succeed. We already had the idea when he was still with Schalke, but at that time we did not have a guaranteed regular place for him. Robben and Ribéry were top of the top three years ago."
