04 December 2018
Pep Guardiola is confident that winger Leroy Sane will sign a new long-term deal with Manchester City despite delays in ongoing contract negotiations between the two parties.
The 22-year-old has recovered well from the disappointment of a summer in which he was not selected in Germanyโs World Cup squad and then returned to England to discover he had lost his starting place under Guardiola.
Sane has still only started seven of Cityโs 14 league games this season but four goals in his past five Premier League games suggests he is rediscovering his impressive form of the past two seasons.
And even though Sane is yet to join a list of senior stars such as Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Ederson, Gabriel Jesus and Nicolas Otamendi in signing new long-term contracts with the club, Guardiola is convinced that will happen.
โI donโt have any info about the club, about being in trouble with Leroy,โ said the City manager, whose side travel to Watford on Tuesday.
โThe last info I had was that itโs going well but the process is not one day โ Raheem Sterling it was not one day. Except for Kevin De Bruyne, it was in one or two days done, the other ones sometimes take longer but hopefully, he can stay here for many, many years.โ
Saneโs task at City this season has been further complicated by the summer club-record signing of ยฃ60 million ($76 million) Leicester winger Riyad Mahrez.
Mahrez v Sane
The pair have been effectively engaged in a straight fight for the wide left position in Guardiolaโs attack, with Mahrez having made one less start than Sane but having been involved in one more league game when substitute appearances are factored inโฆRead more