Manchester City would prefer to see Leroy Sané leave on a free transfer next year than sell him to Bayern Munich this summer.
That’s according to AS, who say sources close to the club have revealed their intentions regarding Sané amid continued links to the German champions.
Sané was close to joining the Bundesliga giants last summer, only for a cruciate ligament injury picked up in the Community Shield win over Liverpool to scupper that move.
Despite that, Bayern have remained keen on a deal, with constant rumours that they will return with a bid this summer.
SportBild fanned those flames earlier today when they reported that Bayern already have an agreement in place with Sané for a five-year contract and are now planning to work out a deal with Manchester City.
The newspaper claimed the Bundesliga champions were hoping to save a small fortune on Sané and get him for around €40m, taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis and the fact his contract expires next summer.
How City would react to such a bid wasn’t mentioned but AS have now provided that angle and say it hasn’t gone down well.
According to their sources, Manchester City see this bid as a ‘new offence’ by Bayern, whose ‘constant attacks’ and efforts to make their interest in the player public have ended up ‘breaking the relationship’ with the club.
So much so that those same sources ‘assure’ the newspaper that they would prefer to see Sané leave on a free transfer next year before selling him to Bayern.
For now, City are in no hurry to sell, with Pep Guardiola counting on the forward when the season does return.
Similarly, they do not need the money as, unlike other clubs, their finances have not been hit as hard by the COVID-19 outbreak after they sold 10% of their capital to the North American company Silver Lake for $500m in December.
As a result ‘the box is full’ meaning they do not need to accept less for Sané and give Bayern the discount they are hoping for.
