Manchester City doesn’t care about price tags. An exorbitant transfer fee is a means to an end for the club. But that doesn’t mean that they are entirely an organization about the now. City have spent more and more recently with an eye towards the future. Last year that strategy netted them Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling. The former proved worthy of such an expenditure. The latter left the Citizens with buyer’s remorse. Sterling will man one wing this fall. Latest signing Leroy Sane will man the other. There will be no fiscal regrets with this 20 year old winger, one of new manager Pep Guardiola’s top transfer targets.
Sane comes to the blue side of Manchester for £37m (€43.9m). Due to contract escalators, the deal could end up anywhere from £42m (€49.9m) to £46.5m (€55.3m). With that being said, Sane is coming in as a bargain in today’s Premier League climate. The German international signed a five year contract with City after passing his medical to start the week.
Sane has been the apple of many a big club’s eye over the past two summers. Real Madrid, Chelsea, and crosstown rivals Manchester United all made inquests to Schalke for the 20 year old. But Sane seemed hell bent on linking up with Pep Guardiola. He saw first hand what Guardiola is about during his new manager’s tenure at Bayern Munich. Once Guardiola made him a transfer priority, it was only a matter of time before Sane put pen to paper.
The winger, who will wear his preferred #19 shirt for City, didn’t report to Schalke’s summer preseason tour. Instead, he made his way to England ahead of the proposed move. It didn’t take long for the deal to be finalized and Sane was ready to roll.
This has been a positive summer for City. They brought in their coveted manager after finishing fourth in both the Champions League and Premier League. They followed that up with transfers for Celta Vigo’s Nolito and Borussia Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan. But Sane is the crown jewel. He isn’t just the cream in the coffee, he’s the sugar, caramel, and pretty much anything else people throw in their joe these days as well. Most of all, he’s a palate cleanser for last year’s signing of Raheem Sterling.
On the surface the two are very similar players. Both like to get the ball on the wings and create havoc on fullbacks that can’t handle their pace. They both have the innate ability to cut inside and put shots on target from either side of the pitch. That is where the direct similarities end.
Both men have ball control issues, but Sane does more with his possession and keeps more plays alive. When Sterling loses the ball, he is more apt to pout, shout, or go down with the theatrics of a war movie extra stepping on a landmine. Sane loves to put in a tackle, most of all in an almost hockey-esque forechecking role.
Sane can influence a game in more ways than scoring goals. When Sterling isn’t getting in front of goal, he tends to fade out of the game. Sane looks to provide service when his shot is erratic. His 14 goals contributed to (8 scored, 6 assisted) where fourth best among players under 21 from the Bundesliga, Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, and Serie A last term. Sterling barely skates into the top ten, although half his goals came in a blowout of Bournemouth in October and none of his assists came after the new year. Once his confidence was broken, there was no rebuilding.
Sane is resilient, relentless, and resourceful. Sterling, a man who once was viewed as a comparison for Sane during the German’s courting by Liverpool, is neither of those three. The £49m man now will potentially play alongside him as feeders for Sergio Aguero. It will be interesting to see Pep Guardiola’s approach to deploying the duo. Will they actually play on either side of Kun, or will they compete for one spot with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, or dare I say it, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang manning the other? All I know right now that is whatever Guardiola chooses, he is going to get the best out of Leroy Sane. Raheem Sterling cannot make a similar claim, especially so if he gets off to a slow start.
Was Sane’s signing a better value than Sterling’s? Should the two play together or in competition with one another? Is this just the first shoe to drop in the final month of the summer window (John Stones, Gabriel Jesus, Aubameyang, etc.)? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter @sportsftb or @TREVORutley.