Leroy Sane’s move to Bayern Munich has Adidas, Nike, and Puma locked in a bidding war

In a new report by Bild, it seems that kit manufacturers are also getting involved in the Leroy Sane saga. With the Manchester City star inching closer and closer to Bayern Munich, Adidas, Puma, and Nike are aggressively trying to sign Sane onto a new sponsorship deal.

With Sane set to be given Arjen Robben’s #10 jersey, this would be a huge business opportunity for whoever manages to sign the winger. Adidas sees Sane as a way to expand internationally into markets it hasn’t yet touched, similar to how Thomas Muller has allowed them to dominate the German market in recent years. They feel Sane can be a “Bayern Beckham” who will draw new fans in with his star-power.

Nike presumably feel the same, and probably want a new young winger on their books as Cristiano Ronaldo continues to age. Having Bayern’s next star winger would be a coup. Meanwhile Puma is banking on the fact that famous #10’s like Maradona and Pele played with Puma shoes, so Sane could become their new calling card.

Will any of this affect the move overall? Probably not. But this does show that there is movement behind the scenes, given that the kit manufacturers surely know what’s going on. You’d imagine that Adidas, as a partial owner of Bayern Munich, has the advantage in negotiations, but that’s not necessarily the case. Whatever happens, this is not likely to affect negotiations with Man City — so just consider this report a brief interlude in the never-ending saga that is the Sane transfer.