Even in this eyebrow-raising summer of exorbitant spending, the £37m spent by Manchester City on a 20-year-old with four international caps, one full season of senior football and zero trophies to his name does not rest entirely easily. Then again, Leroy Sané is no ordinary player.
When Pep Guardiola took over from Manuel Pellegrini and evaluated the squad he inherited, the Catalan may have noticed substantially bigger holes to plug – strengthening the defence perhaps, or adding weight to an at times flimsy centre midfield. City, on paper, look best-stocked in the attacking midfield role Sané has thus far occupied but the manager was absolutely certain he would target a player who had been the subject of interest from the club for some time. The Germany international would fit his masterplan.
So City engaged in a protracted game of hardball with Schalke, who held a strong hand aided by their best player being under contract until the end of the 2018-19 season. The German side’s decision to tie him to an extension twice in three months last season in retrospect looks shrewd.
Bargaining was inevitable, though, and considering how much larger the Bundesliga club’s asking price was, the initial fee paid by City almost seems a bargain. Various add-ons could take the package above £40m.
It will take some time to appraise whether Sané is worth it. He remains a rough diamond in need of some polishing. But as we have come to learn from Guardiola's time at both Barcelona and Bayern Munich, there are few things the manager relishes more than nurturing talent.
In Gelsenkirchen Sané was a shining star in little more than a muddle of mundane, the leading light in a distinctly ordinary team comfortably beaten by Shakhtar Donetsk in the first knockout round of the Europa League and who finished 36 points behind Guardiola’s Bayern in the Bundesliga last season.
Certainly their fixtures against Bayern enforced the favourable impression held by Guardiola. Sané provided an assist for Max Meyer in the first meeting – a goal that put Schalke ahead until they were overpowered 3-1 – and in the reverse fixture he looked the most likely in blue to cause havoc in a 3-0 loss. "Leroy is a huge talent," Guardiola said while still in Bavaria. "I can only congratulate Germany on a talent like him."
His flair and ability were evident from the beginning. In Schalke's 112-year history there may not have been a more startling first appearance in Europe than Sané's at the Santiago Bernabéu of all places in March 2015. With Schalke trailing 3-1 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the second leg of a Champions League last-16 tie, Roberto Di Matteo, who would resign three months later, replaced the injured Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting with Sané less than half an hour in.
The tie appeared out of reach and Real looked comfortable. But they had not planned for the voracious hunger of a teenage substitute. Sané injected a fresh intensity and made the match 3-3 on the night, 5-3 on aggregate, thanks to a stunning curled finish from 20 yards before playing an important role in the buildup to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s second of the evening.
Schalke still needed one more goal to go through, though, and Sané almost produced it, only to be denied by Iker Casillas. Real progressed but the seed had been planted and he soon established a starting berth, scoring in the Bundesliga against Hertha Berlin the following weekend.
With such supreme athleticism, it is no surprise to learn Sané is also the heir to rich sporting stock. His distinguished father, Souleyman, played 55 times for Senegal as a rapid striker, and his mother, Regina Weber, won a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics, becoming the only German to secure a gymnastics medal in the history of the Games. Both his brothers are talented footballers too but it was evident from an early age that Leroy was special.
Heralded by some in Germany as the principal figure of their next generation, which is quite a feat considering the depth of talent at the country’s disposal, every coach he has worked it with is unequivocal in terms of his ability.
There is versatility, which Guardiola will utilise in time. Deployed mostly on the right at Schalke, allowing him to cut in on his stronger left foot, he also played sporadically on the opposite wing and in a more central role. Sané’s willingness to track back will no doubt have been noted by the manager too, making him ideally suited to the high-energy pressing style that not every player has the aptitude to carry out.
As Joachim Löw said after calling Sané into the Germany squad for the first time this year: “We see his great potential.” Löw gave just over 10 minutes at Euro 2016, as a substitute in the semi-final against France. The challenge now is for Guardiola to help a rare and prodigious talent fulfil it. Either way it will be fascinating to observe his development.
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