Hansi Flick satisfied with star signing Leroy Sané’s progress at Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick has expressed satisfaction over big-name signing Leroy Sané’s integration. The former Manchester City winger recently received his first start in five games against Atletico Madrid and played the full 90 minutes of the Bavarians’ 1-1 draw in the UEFA Champions League.

Currently behind treble-winning duo Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry in the pecking order, Sané has assumed the role of a super-substitute as of late and is expected to start the much-awaited upcoming clash with RB Leipzig on the bench.

“Leroy is making good progress. I won’t say anything about whether he’s playing,” Flick revealed in the pre-match conference (as captured by Sport Bild).

The 24-year-old has accumulated over 500 minutes (all competitions) since joining the German champs but has looked somewhat unconvincing in four of his five starts. In terms of goal contributions, it has been an inconsistent beginning to the 2020/2021 season for Sané, so far. Out of his eight goal involvements, three have come in the Bundesliga opener with FC Schalke 04 and the rest, after coming off-the-bench.

Photo by Chris Ricco - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

Coach Flick, however, was quick to defend his club’s mega reinforcement, mentioning Sané’s injury history and lack of training sessions as the reason behind his cautious integration.

“With Leroy you just have to put the background back to the front,” the head trainer explained. “He was seriously injured last year. He injured himself again in Hoffenheim. Therefore, it is quite normal that he needs time.”

After missing out the entire 2019/2020 campaign due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury to right knee, Sané took a blow to the same knee against Hoffenheim, back in September.

There were renewed fears among fans when he injured himself on the capsule of the operated knee. Fortunately, it turned out to be a minor bump and the winger was back in training after approximately four weeks.

The pandemic-affected congested schedule and recent injury raised another issue for the young German — a lack of training units with the coaching staff.

“It’s not always easy to integrate into a new club. In addition, we didn’t have so many opportunities to practice the things that you can normally do in preparation,” Flick said, a concern he has expressed in the past as well.

Nevertheless, the 55-year-old ended his explanation on a positive note, stating that he is satisfied with Sané’s work in training.

“What I’m currently seeing in training is good. That is the development that I want to see,” an optimistic Flick said during the presser.