Uli Hoeness confirms that Bayern Munich chiefs may revive interest in Manchester City winger Leroy Sane in the winter transfer window.
Bayern Munich had a strange summer transfer window as they left it late to complete the majority of their business. They addressed the key areas of the squad, but couldn’t sign their first-choice transfer targets.
After releasing Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, the defending Bundesliga champions were keen on adding a world-class winger in the summer. Die Roten identified Manchester City’s Leroy Sane as the ideal player to fill the void left by the veteran wingers.
The transfer saga involving Bayern and Sane went on throughout the summer. As things were moving in the right direction for the German club, Sane suffered a serious injury. The former Schalke winger was ruled out for at least six months.
Die Roten were reportedly looking at solutions to this problem but eventually decided to drop their interest in German winger. Speaking to Sports Illustrated(SI) this week, Uli Hoeness admits that the club may try to sign Sane in summer.
"“We were very much interested, and we had discussions with him, but he had his big accident and awful injury, and we could not go on with it.”“Therefore we have to wait now and see how his recovery goes on, and the new people at Bayern will have to sit down in January and February and see what’s going on with that.”"
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Bayern will be looking to bring down Man City’s demands for Sane in January. The German forward and English club have hit an impasse in the contract talks. His current deal is set to expire in 2021. This contractual situation will help Bayern to avoid paying over the odds for Sane.
Apart from the transfer fee, Philippe Coutinho’s form at Bayern will also have a big say in this transfer. The Brazilian moved to Bavaria from Barcelona on a loan transfer at the end of the summer window. Die Roten has the option to sign him permanently next year for a reported fee of €120 million.
It will be interesting to see if Bayern complete two €100 million deals in one summer. Moreover, Die Roten is also interested in signing Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen. All three transfers in one summer are unrealistic, so Bayern will have to narrow down their wishlist for next summer. Investing in Sane and Havertz will be a much better idea as they are younger and have a higher ceiling than Coutinho.
Uli Hoeness is set to step down from the President position at the club in November. He told SI that he wanted to go out on his terms rather than becoming a liability for the club. Hoeness also praised Niko Kovac in this interview for achieving success in his first season.