Bayern Munich Chief Hints That Failed Leroy Sane Bid Wasn't Due to Long-Term Injury

Bayern Munich's sporting director Hasan Salihamidžić has suggested that their attempt to sign Leroy Sané during this summer fell through due to the player's wage demands, as opposed to a long-term injury that he picked up in the Community Shield.

The 23-year-old has been one of Bayern Munich's biggest targets for a number of years but they passed up the opportunity to sign him from Schalke in 2016, something which is now seen as a major failing from the club's transfer department.

The Bundesliga champions didn't hide the fact they wanted to sign Sané ahead of the 2019/20 season, but Salihamidžić has now hinted that the Germany international's wages would have been too expensive for the club.

It's been widely speculated that Sané's anterior cruciate ligament injury forced the deal to be called off, with the club instead opting to sign Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Perišić on loan.

However, the Manchester Evening News points out that after rewarding Robert Lewandowski with a new four-year contract worth £350,000 a week, Salihamidžić believes that Bayern Munich 'cannot afford' to stretch their wage structure much further.

Bayern Munich will keep monitoring the situation at Manchester City as they consider re-launching a move when Sané enters the last year of his contract next summer.

They might consider making another move even earlier, however, as The Sun suggests that Bayern will come back in for Sané during the January transfer window.

It's added that Manchester City are confident they can tie Sané down to a new long-term contract in the north-west, even though the Germany international still hasn't cemented a starting spot under Pep Guardiola.