One of the big ‘will they-won’t they’ from last year was Leroy Sané and a move to Bayern Munich.
Then at Manchester City, the German winger was a target for the Bundesliga side, who wanted him as early as the summer of 2019.
A severe knee injury in the Community Shield scuppered that, meaning Bayern had to wait another year before getting their man, even if they did so at a reduced price.
“Only” spending £40m on the now 24-year-old, everyone seemed happy, with Sané enjoying himself so far this season, scoring five goals and assisting another three in 14 appearances in all competitions.
However, he hasn’t managed to become a regular starter under Hansi Flick, appearing in the starting XI just four times in the league, most recently in a 3-3 draw against RB Leipzig at home.
For Didi Hamann, speaking to TZ, part of this is the player’s attitude, which is one of the reasons why Manchester City and Pep Guardiola got rid of him.
He said: “I said from the start: this is his last chance to assert himself at a top club. He had a good period in Manchester at the beginning, then played less again. Jogi Löw left him at home for the 2018 World Cup. There were question marks, and what I keep hearing is that he likes to do his own thing.
“You can do that if you’re the best in the world. If not, then you have to work for the team. In Manchester, Sané often didn’t follow instructions the way the coach wanted them to. Then he was late at once or twice until Pep Guardiola also said ‘that’s enough’.”
There was hope a change of scenery and perhaps a stricter environment surrounded by other Germans could fix this, but that doesn’t appear to have been the case.
Hamann continued: “At Bayern, you have a strong squad and an experienced core. There wasn’t one in Manchester. My hope was that a Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller or Joshua Kimmich would take him aside and say: ‘watch out boy, that’s how it works here. If you don’t feel like it, you have no place with us’.
“If you look at it after three months, it doesn’t seem to have worked for him yet. You have to be very clear: he is hardly a better option than Gnabry or Kingsley Coman at the moment. If tomorrow was the Champions League final, he wouldn’t play from the off. That should actually be his claim”.
