Like most other Premier League clubs, Manchester City returned to training this week, under the plan laid out by the Premier League and the government for ‘Project Restart’. Betting Sites in Nigeria have been seeing a lot of interest since the announcement with punters flocking to lay bets on City possibly catching Liverpool due to the interruption in the season.
Many clubs have been able to bring back previously-injured players for this last phase of the league, due to the nearly three-month-long postponement, and City are one of them, with Pep Guardiola confirming that there are no injury concerns in the squad. This means that German winger Leroy Sane, who suffered a knee injury in the Community Shield way back in August which was expected to keep him out for the whole season, will finally be able to take the field for City.
Sane, who has long been linked with a move to Bayern Munich, has been one of City’s most devastating attackers in recent years, and his return will be especially beneficial for Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian currently has 16 assists in the league, four shy of Thierry Henry’s Premier League record of 20, and Sane’s return significantly boosts his chances of being able to claim that mantle.
The two dovetail extremely well, with De Bruyne’s inswinging crosses from the right being met by Sane’s trademark runs into the box from the left, and City fans will be looking forward to this partnership in the last few games of the season. It is telling that despite having been teammates for three seasons now, these two have only played together in nine matches over the last couple of campaigns.
Of course, the reason for this is the fact that both players have suffered long injury layoffs in this period, but this has deprived City of one of their most potent attacking combinations, one of the key reasons why BetMaster Nigeria moved City out to outsiders for the title early in the season. De Bruyne’s presence could help speed up Sane’s reintegration into the team by a considerable amount, and he should be able to hit the ground running to ensure that City are at their best in the last ten games of this season.
However, beyond this season’s end, things are a lot murkier. Sane has just one year left on his current contract, and has been subject to a very public declaration of interest from Bayern Munich. Guardiola has seemed to be resigned to losing the German winger, and all indications are that Sane will move back to his homeland during the upcoming transfer window. In such a scenario, City need to line up a replacement, and recent reports have linked them to Bayer Leverkusen hotshot Leon Bailey. The Jamaican forward is very similar in profile to Sane, and has played on both flanks, increasing his attractiveness for Guardiola. The attacker is valued at around £40million by Leverkusen, making it a good financial deal for the club as well, with the potential for the money received from Sane being enough to pay for his replacement, which would be important in the next transfer window given the current scenario and the loss of revenue that clubs are going to be facing in the next few months. Bailey could thus be a very good replacement for Sane, both tactically and financially.
