Sport Bild: Three options for Bayern Munich to buy Leroy Sané, but his injury could cause “panic buys” in Bavaria

Manchester City star Leroy Sané’s ACL injury in the Community Shield has proven to be a dagger in the heart for Bayern Munich. The winger has been Bayern’s number one transfer target for months, but the club’s hierarchy now must decide whether they still want to buy a player who be unable to play until spring.

In Wednesday’s Sport Bild, Christian Falk and Tobias Altschäffl argue that Bayern put all their eggs in one basket in Sané, and waited too long to finalize a deal with Manchester City for the midfielder.

Bayern Munich has already completed a one-year loan worth €5 million for Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic, with a €20 million option to buy. That has been perceived by some pundits and fans as a “panic buy.” The whole scenario really poses the question: Is this just incredibly bad luck for Bayern, or is it possibly bad luck combined with poor planning?

Photo by M. Donato/Getty Images for FC Bayern

Had Sané not suffered his injury, Sport Bild states that Bayern would have been looking at a transfer fee of around €145 million. At that amount, Sané might have been and final signing of the summer. Now, since that will not happen — at least not for the estimated €145 million due to his injury — Bayern needs to figure out where they want to invest that money, whether in Sané for the future (i.e: winter window, next summer) or in other assets for this transfer window.

Falk and Altschäffl also point out that there are still options for Bayern to bring Sané to Munich. All hope isn’t necessarily lost despite the major injury setback.

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images

The clear and most obvious option is that they buy him from Manchester City before the window closes on September 2nd for a significantly reduced fee from the original €145 million valuation. Alternatively, Bayern might wait until the winter transfer window to make a move for Sané, keeping a close eye on his rehabilitation process with City’s physios and medical staff along the way.

Lastly, Bayern could wait until next summer to go back in for him, especially considering the fact that he will be entering the last year of his contract. City will certainly want to sell him before his contract is up, if he wants out. Because Sané will likely be out of commission until February 2020, a deal next summer might makes the most sense for Bayern. The only risk they run in waiting until next summer is that Pep Guardiola could convince the midfielder to sign a contract extension with City.