The Bayern Munich chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, has confirmed the German champions are aiming to sign Manchester City’s Leroy Sané this summer.
“We will try. I can not promise whether it will succeed,” Rummenigge said at a Bild event in Berlin on the eve of the German Cup final, where Bayern will take on RB Leipzig.
The winger, who has been in and out of the City starting line-up this season, is believed to be keen on a move back to Germany, having arrived in England from Schalke in 2016.
“We already had the idea when he was still with Schalke,” Rummenigge added. “But at that time we did not have a guaranteed regular place for him. [Arjen] Robben and [Franck] Ribéry were top of the top three years ago.”
Bayern have made Sané their No 1 transfer target and are preparing an initial bid of around £70m. Despite winning the Bundesliga for the seventh time in a row this season, they are looking to rejuvenate their squad with Robben and Ribéry leaving this summer.
The German champions have already spent almost £100m on French defenders Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard, while teenage Canadian winger Alphonso Davies has made only brief substitute appearances since joining in January.
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Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski has spoken of his admiration for Sané this week: “He’s a super player with great qualities and great potential. I’ve already seen many times how good he is. That’s a player who can immediately take us higher, who improves the team.”
Speaking after the FA Cup final victory over Watford that completed a domestic treble, Pep Guardiola had insisted that he wanted Sané to stay – but accepted that some of his squad could leave in search of a regular starting spot.
“We offered to extend his contract,” the Manchester City manager said. “We want him to stay. What proof is more than for six, seven months we want to extend his contract? If we don’t want him, we don’t extend his contract.”
“Some movements we have to do for next season, because people want to leave, players want to play,” he added. “They accept not playing for a period but it’s normal that they want to play more. I can’t assure that to anyone so I understand completely.”
Sané joined City for £37m in Guardiola’s first year in charge, signing a five-year contract. He has scored 39 goals in 133 appearances for City, winning five major trophies at the club, and was named the PFA young player of the year in 2018.