5 players Bayern Munich could target in the summer

Leroy Sane

Out of all the players on Bayern Munich’s potential summer wishlist, no singular individual would make a more profound impact on this organization than Leroy Sane. Simply one of the classiest players in the world, Sane is the total package. His technical ability is off-the-charts, as are his work ethic and pace. Sane can score goals with his weak foot, from outside the box and he always seems to come up with the critical play in crunch time.

After all, Sane scored the winning goal against Liverpool that eventually came to decide the Premier League’s nail-biting title race; he could come up with similar heroics against Dortmund or Leipzig as the second and third-place Bundesliga teams continue to push to compete head-to-head with the Bavarian giants.

Even Lewandowksi is adding to the smoke surrounding Sane and Bayern, and the veteran striker would certainly be among the players to benefit from playing with a player like Sane. His tireless running down the flanks and pinpoint crosses — his low, driven crosses might be the world’s most dangerous — would create endless chances for Bayern’s other forwards. Sane would open things up for everyone else in Bayern’s attack, and he could be the final piece to take Bayern to new heights in the Champions League.

Sane had 10 goals and 10 assists in just 1,867 minutes for Manchester City last season, and while he seemed to fall out of favor in Pep Guardiola’s eyes near the end of the year, it wasn’t for a lack of quality. No, Sane was arguably one of City’s three best players for much of the season, alongside Player of the Year candidates Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero. Only Sterling, who played almost 1,000 more minutes, had as many assists as Sane. The German international was also third on the team in goals, third in key passes, and second in dribbles completed, per WhoScored.com’s stats.

With his composure, consistency, and technical prowess (he is also dangerous from free kicks), it’s hard to believe that Leroy Sane is just 23. He would immediately start either on the wings or as an attacking midfielder, though he could push Gnabry inside, and there’s no doubt that Sane would immediately be one of Bayern’s best players. In the second half of Bayern’s Bundesliga campaign, Gnabry became Bayern’s most important player, and Sane is even better than him. The former Schalke starter is more established than Gnabry, and, comparisons aside, it would be downright scary to watch him work with Gnabry and Lewandowski in attack.

A potential quartet of Havertz, Sane, Gnabry and Lewandowski would more than match Dortmund’s impressive Jadon Sancho, Marco Reus, Thorgan Hazard, and Paco Alcacer in attack. And with Coman and Corentin Tolisso coming off the bench, Bayern would be ready to quell all doubts about depth.

Watch for Sane’s name this transfer window, because he just might be the best possible, realistic, attacking acquisition for the reigning Bundesliga champions.