Ahead of Manchester City’s Community Shield match against Liverpool, German newspaper Bild reported Leroy Sane wouldn’t be playing.
The reason was a fear of injury, and that scuppering a move to Bayern Munich.
Bild were wrong, Sane did play, and he quickly picked up an injury.
On Monday morning they look at the situation, having sent a reporter to England.
It sounds like the journalist had a wasted trip: ‘After the match, I’m waiting for him in the mixed zone. Sane is one of the first players to pass us – about two metres away from us journalists. He looks focused on his cell phone.
‘”Leroy, how are you?” He turns around, looks at me and continues towards the exit to the team buses. A good ten minutes later, he comes back again. I’ll talk to him again. This time he doesn’t even look up from his cell phone.’
And that tells a story for the German media this morning. They have no information on where a potential deal stands right now, or whether injury could impact it.
Everything feels like it’s taking a step back from the big German claims on Saturday of an agreement being imminent, or even already reached, with both Manchester City and their player.
Where there had been cocky optimism there’s now confusion, and that’s pretty much been the story all summer.
