Bayern Munich's Honorary President Talks Up Leroy Sane as Part of Club's 'New Era'

Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness has included Manchester City winger Leroy Sane in his vision for a ‘new era’, as well as stating interest in Bayer Leverkusen starlet Kai Havertz. However, the latter stands to be a more difficult signing in light of the financial impact of coronavirus.

Bayern have long been enamoured with Sane, while Havertz has emerged as the brightest German talent in the Bundesliga and in that respect fits the club’s usual transfer policy.

Hoeness told radio station Bayern 1 over the weekend that he considers the club to be on the cusp of having a ‘great generation’ in light of several recent contract extensions, existing emerging stars and potential new signings like Sane and Havertz.

“We managed to extend with Manuel Neuer, and we have Joshua Kimmich, Niklas Sule, Robert Lewandowski and hopefully David Alaba and Thiago Alcantara [will agree new contracts],” the Bayern legend commented.

“And I also hope with Leroy Sane, with [Kingsley] Coman, [Serge] Gnabry, [we will have] a young, developable team. I can imagine, if everything goes well, that a new era is just beginning at Bayern Munich,” Hoeness added.

The senior official appeared to speak about Sane as though he is already a Bayern player. 90min first revealed last July that the Manchester City star was open to joining Bayern, further reporting in November that Sane is ‘fixated’ on Bayern, and adding in January that he remains keen.

90min revealed in the latter report that Sane’s reasons for wanting to move on from City remain the same. The 24-year-old is not unhappy in England, but tougher competition for places and a relative lack of starts last season prior to his long-term knee injury – from which he has now recovered – led him to consider future, while he feels there may be a key role on offer at Bayern.

A deal for Havertz will be tougher to pull off if Bayern have already invested heavily in Sane and Hoeness was not shy about admitting that. For now, at least, that appears to remain a more distant ideal for the reigning German champions rather than an imminent reality.

“We would certainly like to have Kai Havertz but, at the moment, we do not know exactly what the economic future of all football is,” Hoeness explained. “I would like to see him in Munich from a sporting perspective, but as of today I honestly cannot imagine it, although I would like to see it.”

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