Manchester City Confirm Leroy Sane Will Undergo Surgery on Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

Manchester City have confirmed that Leroy Sane must undergo surgery in order to correct an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in the Community Shield win over Liverpool.

The 23-year-old has been linked all summer long with a move to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, having fallen out-of-favour under Pep Guardiola during the second half of City's ​historic treble winning campaign.

Sane started the Community Shield clash against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool despite the speculation, but was forced to hobble off after sustaining the injury - and City have now confirmed his worst fears, with an anterior cruciate ligament problem now needing to be corrected by an operation.

A ​statement on the club's website said: "Manchester City FC can confirm that Leroy Sane has damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

"The flying winger picked up an injury in the opening stages of City’s Community Shield triumph over Liverpool at Wembley Stadium.

"He has undergone testing throughout the week, with a specialist doctor travelling to Manchester for further examinations to understand the extent of the injury.

"Leroy will have surgery in the coming week. ​Manchester City will provide Leroy with all the support and guidance he needs, and everyone connected with the Club wishes him a quick and full recovery."

Sane has scored 10 goals in each of City's last two Premier League campaigns, helping the Citizens retain their Premier League title by the narrowest of margins last year.

Despite his impressive goals ratio, he often found himself on the bench after Christmas last season - with Guardiola instead preferring Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling on the flanks, either side of main striker ​Sergio Aguero.

He is expected to be out for the majority of the season, with most ACL injuries requiring at least 6-9 months of rehabilitation.