Manchester City are still assessing the injury sustained by Leroy Sane during the Community Shield – despite reports in Germany that Bayern Munich’s No 1 target may need to have an operation.
Sane, 23, twisted his knee and had to be substituted in the early minutes of City’s penalty shoot-out victory over Liverpool at Wembley on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola said afterwards that he didn’t think the injury was serious.
But City were still awaiting the scan and tests results on Wednesday that would confirm the full extent of the problem.
The Premier League champions have a record of sending injured players to renowned Barcelona-based medic Dr Ramon Cugat for diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.
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Last night, Sane was still in Manchester after being examined by the club’s own medical staff at the Etihad campus.
The fact that it has taken more than 72 hours for City to discover the extend of the damage will, however, be a worry.
But the club insists that reports from Germany about Sane’s condition being serious are based on guess work.
Bayern are under huge pressure to close a deal for Sane after mounting a summer-long charm offensive.
And the word in Munich is that the Bundesliga champions are beginning to accept that they will be forced into a humiliating climb-down after being told that they would have to pay £140million and Sane would have to ask to leave the club.
(Image: Getty Images)
Therefore it is looking more and more likely that Sane will form part of Guardiola’s squad for the forthcoming season, although he is highly unlikely to feature in City’s opening game of the season against West Ham on Saturday due to the injury.
Sane scored 16 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions last season, including the crucial winner against Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in January.
