Manchester City are set to sign Schalke forward Leroy Sane in a £40 million deal.
Manchester City are reportedly on the brink of closing a deal for the German international along with that of Ukrainian youngster Oleksandr Zinchenko, who has been signed by the Citizens from FC Ufa for a fee of around £1.7 million.
Sane will be the Blues’ fifth signing of the summer after confirmed transfers of Celta Vigo forward Nolito, Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, Melbourne City midfielder Aaron Mooy, and Zinchenko from FC Ufa.
City had reportedly scouted the Schalke forward as early as January, 2016. The Citizens had agreed a £40 million fee with the Bundesliga outfit last month and City chief executive Ferran Soriano has hinted at the move being close to completion.
According to Manchester Evening News, Soriano spoke to BBC World of the transfer activity at the Etihad: “You need to change three, four or five players in a season. We have two new players, one gone and maybe we’re halfway. There will be some more. Two deals are close, the other deals are fairly advanced. Some players don’t want to announce anything until they (the Euros) are finished.”
Ferran Soriano also spoke of his delight at Pep Guardiola’s appointment at Manchester City’s helm and expressed his belief that the former Bayern Munich manager will be a success. “We believe with Pep we go one step forward in terms of tactical sophistication and playing beautiful football, which is what we want to do,” he said. “It’s not a massive change, just another step in the direction we want to go.”
Leroy Sane made his debut for Schalke a couple of seasons ago and has since made 55 appearances for the Bundesliga club. The versatile forward scored 8 goals and provided 6 assists, and has gone on to play for the national side thrice.
He is currently preparing himself with his international teammates ahead of Germany’s semi-final clash against hosts France in the European Championship. Even though the deal seems to be done, the final paperwork will have to wait till the end of the Euros.
Spanish youngster Sergi Canos is set to leave Liverpool after the Reds’ have accepted a £2.5M offer from Norwich City.
Liverpool have accepted a £2.5 million offer for Sergi Canos from Norwich City on Monday, The Echo reports. The report states that the offer matches the recently tabled bid from fellow Championship outfit Bristol City.
Liverpool Echo had earlier reported that the 19-year-old was holding out on a potential move to Ashton Gate from the Reds. Norwich have decided to delve into the market following England U-21 winger Nathan Redmond’s departure from the club and have identified the former Barcelona youth product as the ideal replacement.
Canos joined Liverpool from Barcelona three years ago and enjoyed a season-long successful loan at Brentford last season. He was handed his first team debut by Klopp in the last game of the recently concluded season as the Spaniard came on as a late substitute in the 1-1 draw at the Hawthorns against West Brom.
The youngster must now choose between the prospect of playing regular first team football and running down the last year on his Liverpool contract in the hope of establishing himself at Anfield. Talks over a new contract were opened between the player and the club but have broken down after the player’s £10,000-per week wage demand.
