Pep Guardiola confirms Bayern Munich target Leroy Sane will leave Manchester City (Updated)

Big (but not unexpected) news — Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Leroy Sane will leave the club. The German winger has been chased by Bayern Munich for over a year now. Guardiola’s admission is another sign that the winger’s move to Munich is materializing, albeit slower than the fans would like to see.

Here’s confirmation of Pep’s quote, from the Athletic UK’s City correspondent Sam Lee:

Of course, Pep never did mention which club Sane might go to. But he surely knows that his former employer is on the hunt for a new winger. You only need to look at this Freudian slip up from earlier in the season to realize that Pep still has Bayern on the brain. This was an utter gem:

Now, the question remains for Bayern fans — when will Sane get here? This summer, or the next? Bayern need a new winger right now, to fill the void left by Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery. However, if Man City’s demands get too exorbitant, the bosses could end up waiting till next summer, given the difficulty of spending large amounts of money in a post-corona market.

Whatever happens, this admission by Pep is the first sign that City may be resigned to letting Sane leave. The transfer almost feels inevitable — though this is a good time to remind everyone that things can change VERY quickly in football. Let’s not get carried away by good news, nothing is official as of yet.

Update

Journalist Fabrizio Romano confirms that Bayern Munich are the most likely club to sign Leroy Sane:

Update #2

According to The Telegraph, Manchester City will not accept a cut price deal for Leroy Sane and are willing to hold onto him until next summer if they have to.