Pep Guardiola: Leroy Sane never asked to leave Manchester City

Pretty much the worst case scenario has unfolded for Bayern Munich fans regarding the potential transfer of Manchester City’s Leroy Sane. The injury he suffered in the Community Shield match against Liverpool is far worse than initially feared and will require surgery to repair a partially torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament. The injury put a significant dent in Bayern’s hopes of signing the winger by September 2nd, especially since he’ll be facing a considerable spell on the sidelines.

In his pre-match press conference ahead of City’s Premier League opener against West Ham United, Guardiola said he thinks Sane will be out until at least February or March despite him being in the best possible hands for surgery and rehabilitation:

I don’t know. Normally this kind of injury, I don’t know - six or seven months? Hopefully February or March? He’s still young, I hope he comes back quickly. He’s in the best possible hands as far as the operation goes next week.

To add insult to injury, pun intended, Guardiola said that he never received any formal request from Sane or any of his representatives to leave Manchester city for Bayern. It was understood from Bayern’s perspective that Sane had asked to leave and that he had even asked not to be involved in the match day squad for the Community Shield, but Pep revealed that Sane never asked him to leave:

He’s our player, the player did not tell me he wanted to go.

Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Of course, Sane might not have told Guardiola directly that he wanted to leave, but it’s clear from within his team of representatives that negotiations with Bayern had been going on, so much to the point that David Beckham was involved in the negotiation efforts alongside his business partner, David Gardner. Additionally, there’s also the question of whether or not Sane had a loyalty clause in his contract with City, which would put him at risk of losing out on certain fees for just saying that he wants to leave the club. It would thus make sense as to why Guardiola said he never had any direct request from the midfielder to leave the club, even if he really wanted to push for a move to Bayern.