Leroy Sané: Pep Told Me to Play Like Messi – with Freedom

Leroy Sané celebrates after scoring for Manchester City against Liverpool in September. (AFP)
Leroy Sané celebrates after scoring for Manchester City against Liverpool in September. (AFP)
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Leroy Sané: Pep Told Me to Play Like Messi – with Freedom

Leroy Sané celebrates after scoring for Manchester City against Liverpool in September. (AFP)
Leroy Sané celebrates after scoring for Manchester City against Liverpool in September. (AFP)

Leroy Sané’s welcoming demeanor suggests a young footballer enjoying his stellar rise at Manchester City. There is an intelligence in his eyes and a willingness to discuss anything – including Alexis Sánchez’s possible arrival this month – as he relaxes in a chair at the club’s training complex.

Sánchez’s regular berth is on the left of attack, the area from which Sané terrorizes defenses. Yet there is no concern should the Arsenal forward, the subject of a £20m bid, join City during the transfer window and threaten Sané’s place in the starting XI.

“No, it doesn’t worry me personally,” the German says. “He’s a very good player. If he comes to us – I don’t know it will happen – he can help us. No player would say: ‘Oh I hope he doesn’t come.’ Every one of us is playing really well right now and everyone has confidence. But there are so many games – so everyone is going to get games.

“If you don’t get challenged, then you can’t find out how good you are. Even if he is better, you can look up to him, learn and try to improve with him. That makes you a better player. Even if someone like that comes in and is in front of you – if he plays more – the target is to get in front of him in the first XI. So it makes you work harder.”

Liverpool gave Manchester City their first defeat of the season on Sunday, with Sané scoring one of his side’s three goals. In September’s reverse fixture he produced one of his finest displays since joining from Schalke for £37m in the summer of 2016.

After 57 minutes he replaced Gabriel Jesus. City were 3-0 ahead, Sadio Mané had been sent off for the visitors, and Sané was ruthless in killing off Liverpool, scoring twice to complete a 5-0 win. He says: “I try, like always, to help the team, and to score two goals was very good for the team and for me too.”

Jürgen Klopp is a long-time admirer of Sané. He had hoped to sign his countryman for Liverpool. “Yes, I was also talking with them,” says Sané, who made his senior debut for Schalke in April 2014. “Jürgen was calling me too, talking to me. That was before I joined City. He did a good job at [Borussia] Dortmund – I met him when he was there. He’s a good guy, nice guy – honest. He [has] worked well with Liverpool.”

Klopp, who managed Dortmund from 2008 to 2015, wanted Sané to join the German club too. “Yes, there was a time when I was still in the academy that I could have gone there from Schalke but there was no thoughts at all to move to a rival,” he says. “I have no regrets at all. I’m very happy here. I have a lot of friends here, Raheem Sterling, John Stones, Kyle Walker. I really like it – everyone is a really good person, we have fun, a laugh.”

City are flying in all four competitions. They are 90 minutes away from the Carabao Cup final at Wembley as they take a 2-1 lead to Bristol City for next week’s semi-final second leg. There is an FA Cup fourth-round date at the winner of the Cardiff City-Mansfield Town replay. And next month the Champions League challenge is resumed with a last-16 tie against Basel.

Sané, who has nine Germany caps, can look forward to an exciting summer at international level too, when Joachim Löw’s team defend the World Cup in Russia. His eyes sparkle when the notion of a clean sweep with club and country is put to him. “I think I’d retire – at 22,” he says and laughs. “One season and four titles with City and then the World Cup – that would be enough. If it happened, it would be an amazing year, but I don’t think it will happen. I hope but I don’t think so.”

Sané’s haul of 10 goals means he has surpassed last term’s tally. He is City’s fastest player and the sight of him burning away from defenders is a joy of watching this Guardiola team. What fascinates most is how good Sané may become. He is a first choice but City’s manager speaks of how much Sané can improve.

He agrees. “No player at the beginning of his career knows how good he can be,” he says. “It’s exciting and for me it’s a challenge to see how good I can be, how I can get to the best level. It’s really nice to see how it will go.”

Guardiola is harnessing his talent, making Sané a far finer footballer than on arrival. It is a feat the manager has achieved with virtually all of his squad and a key to why City are so dominant.

Sané says: “He improves me a lot since day one that I was here. My complete game – how I play, how I have to move, in the space, when I don’t have the ball, when I have the ball. It’s quite impressive how he can help you to improve – it’s very good for the player and for the team.

“I played against his Bayern Munich and I could see how they could play. It was amazing; it was not so comfortable to play against them.”

Sané struggled initially after joining City until a discussion with Guardiola. “I needed a little time to settle, to know the Premier League, the people here, how they are and to know the players. I had to find my confidence. Pep told me to play with freedom like [Lionel] Messi, not like Messi – it’s impossible,” says Sané, laughing again. “Be free like Messi, have fun, do things like he wants from a striker like the end of the space [near goal] – take the option to shoot or give an assist.”

Sané mentions “fun” more than once, and it is refreshing to hear an elite player talk of reveling in his high-pressure existence. “Of course I enjoy it,” he says. “Sometimes you’re so focused that you don’t even think about it. But you get confidence if you play well. When there’s a goal you’re happy, you celebrate. And through these things you feel much more like you’re having fun and so try to do more things, maybe score or make an assist – you feel the fun.”

Sané’s sporting parents have been crucial to his mental approach. Souleymane, his father, played for Wattenscheid in the Bundesliga and for Senegal. Regina, his mother, was a gymnastics bronze medalist at the 1984 Olympics for West Germany.

“They helped me a lot – they know the different sides of sport,” he says. “They could help me with different issues, special issues which they see similar [to their own experience] and could give me an example. It helped me to solve problems.”

But there is nothing troubling Sané and City at the moment. Instead, there is a buzz around the club. “We feel we can win some trophies so it feels special,” he says. “That’s why it’s special when you come to training. The games come around and you want to work hard, win the games. We’ve had a very good season so far. Many things can still happen and we won’t relax at all. To relax in the Premier League is not good.”

While taking nothing for granted Sané would love to help City claim the title and then retain it, a feat only United and Chelsea have achieved in the Premier League era.

“We always say we want to keep going on – we want to go as far as we can,” he says. “The final of the Carabao Cup, the final of the FA Cup, the Premier League; we want to go through and also to be in Kiev for the Champions League final.

“It’s a dream for everyone. That’s why we are all working so hard. It’s very good for the team – everyone wants to win titles and improve.”

The Guardian Sport



Leipzig Signs Bakayoko, Maksimovic and Diomande in Triple-Transfer Blitz

Leganes' Yan Diomande, center, and Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior fight for the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Leganes at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, March 29, 2025. (AP)
Leganes' Yan Diomande, center, and Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior fight for the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Leganes at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, March 29, 2025. (AP)
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Leipzig Signs Bakayoko, Maksimovic and Diomande in Triple-Transfer Blitz

Leganes' Yan Diomande, center, and Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior fight for the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Leganes at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, March 29, 2025. (AP)
Leganes' Yan Diomande, center, and Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior fight for the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Leganes at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, March 29, 2025. (AP)

Three in one day.

Leipzig has delivered a statement of intent for the new Bundesliga season by signing Belgium winger Johan Bakayoko, Serbia midfielder Andrija Maksimovic, and Ivory Coast youth international Yan Diomande all on the same day.

The 22-year-old Bakayoko's arrival from PSV Eindhoven was the last of the three announced by Leipzig on Wednesday, following that of the 18-year-old Maksimovic from Red Star Belgrade and Diomande, also 18, from Spanish second-division team Leganés.

All three players signed deals through June 2030, the Bundesliga club said.

Bakayoko, who had also been a target for Bayer Leverkusen, will wear the number 9 at Leipzig.

“We have had Johan Bakayoko on our radar for a couple of years now and have tried to sign him time and again,” Leipzig sporting director Marcel Schafer said. “We’re even happier that he’s chosen to join Leipzig despite many teams vying for his signature.”

Bakayoko helped PSV to back-to-back Dutch league titles with nine goals in 30 league appearances last season, and 12 in 33 the season before.

“With his power, explosiveness, pace and eye for goal, he’ll improve our play down the right wing and has his strengths both on and off the ball,” Schafer said.

Maksimovic made his professional debut aged 16 in Serbia, then Champions League debut and Serbia debut a year later. He has already played eight games for the national team.

“We’ve followed his progress closely during his first season at senior level and are convinced he’s already ready to take the next step,” Schafer said of Maksimovic.

Diomande spent just one season at Leganes after moving from Florida-based club AS Frenzi. He made his league debut against Real Madrid and scored two goals in 10 La Liga appearances for Leganes, which was relegated at the end of the season.

“He’s a left winger with outstanding pace, strong dribbling, athleticism and a real eye for goal. On top of that, he never gives up on a ball and plays with great team spirit. With these qualities, he fits perfectly into the type of football we want to play this season,” Schafer said.

Leipzig missed out on European qualification last season and will be targeting a top-4 finish in the Bundesliga to reach the lucrative Champions League.

Yussuf Poulsen, who joined Leipzig when it was still in Germany’s third division in 2013, has left for promoted Hamburger SV. Other players, including Benjamin Sesko and Lois Openda, are also candidates to leave.

Leipzig was founded in 2009 when energy drinks manufacturer Red Bull bought and rebranded fifth-tier club SSV Markranstadt and financed its rise through the lower divisions.