Leroy Sane’s move from Schalke 04 to Manchester City is edging closer.
Sane, 20, is close to sealing his $55 million move to the Etihad Stadium as Pep Guardiola continues his rebuild of City’s squad ahead of his first-ever season coaching in the Premier League.
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The German winger has been linked with City over the past few weeks and after plenty of haggling over his transfer fee it appears a price has now been agreed between Schalke and City.
Sane has flown to Manchester to presumably undergo a medical and hold contract talks as Schalke confirmed that he has not traveled to Austria for their preseason tour.
Leroy #Sané is currently in Manchester and will not be travelling with #Schalke to the training camp. #s04 pic.twitter.com/Jz0Mrlv5vO
— FC Schalke 04 (@s04_en) August 1, 2016
Hailed as one of the brightest prospects in European soccer, the lanky Sane combines blistering pace with an eye for a pass, plus he has supreme dribbling skills and can play in a variety of attacking positions.
In Soccerex’s recent list of the most valuable players under the age of 21 on the planet, Sane was ranked as No. 2. He is already a full international for Germany and he made his debut for Schalke as a 18-year-old and he scored a screamer against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League in his first full season with the first team in 2014-15.
A product of Schalke’s famed academy which has also produced the likes of Mesut Ozil, Julian Draxler, Manel Neuer and Max Meyer, Sane is the next big thing in German soccer and Guardiola has kept close tabs on him over the past three years while he was manager of Bayern Munich.
His impending arrival, plus the signing of Nolito already this summer, suggests Sami Nasri, Jesus Navas and even Raheem Sterling will be looking over their shoulders nervously and wondering how many minutes they will get this season.
With an attack of Nolito, Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva and potentially Sane, Guardiola is building a fluid front-line capable of interchanging just like we’ve seen him do at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.