Leroy Sane's future out of my hands: Pep Guardiola
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola admitted Leroy Sane's future with the champions is beyond his control, as speculation linking the Germany international with a return to his homeland continues to build.
Sane, who joined City from Schalke 04 in 2016, has been a transfer target for Bayern Munich throughout the summer, and Guardiola remains determined to keep the 23-year-old at the Etihad Stadium.
"I like him a lot, I think he has an incredible chance to be better, incredible in terms of being connected in the game," Guardiola said, after Sane scored twice in City's 6-1 win over Hong Kong side Kitchee on Wednesday.
"I think I said two times or three times, we want to keep him. We want him to stay, that's the reason why for more than one year, he has an offer waiting to talk with his agent to extend the contract.
"It's not in our hands or in my hands. He has to decide if he wants to stay and if our agreement is good. If he's going to leave, we will be sad, but what can we do? Hopefully, he stays."
The game against the Hong Kong Premier League side was City's third in just over a week since arriving in Asia.
They will end their tour in Japan tomorrow, when they take on Yokohama F. Marinos, a side partly owned by the club's parent company City Football Group.
Guardiola's team started the tour in China last week, but arrived two days later than scheduled, before defeating West Ham United 4-1 in the semi-finals of the Premier League Asia Trophy.
City then lost on penalties to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final of the biennial event and have had to endure hot and humid conditions as they fine-tune their preparations for the coming season.
City, winners of all three domestic trophies last season, face Liverpool at Wembley Stadium in the Community Shield on Aug 4, before kicking off their English Premier League title defence at West Ham six days later. - REUTERS
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