Sane compared to Gnabry, Coman & Muller

10:00am on Saturday 4th July 2020
By Martin Macdonald

Bayern Munich have completed the signing of Leroy Sane from Manchester City for an initial fee of €49m.

With his contract expiring next summer and with no new deal agreed upon, it was expected that the lightning-quick winger would move from the Etihad this summer, with Bayern always the most likely destination.

After starring for Schalke, Sane made a big-money move to the Premier League with City where he would win two titles and the FA Cup.

However, his 2019/20 campaign has been ruined by injury, after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in the Community Shield versus Liverpool.

The season before, when City won the league with a record points tally, he was sensational down the left wing, which is why Bayern initially enquired about a transfer in the weeks previous to the Community Shield clash.

So how does Sane’s form at his flying best in 2018/19 compare to Bayern’s wingmen in their title winning 2019/20 campaign?

18/19 Sane v 19/20 Bayern attackers

Stat	Sane	Gnabry	Muller	Coman
G + A	20	22	28	7
xG + xA	15.1	26.7	24.1	10.4
Comp Dribbles P90	2.7	2.2	0.8	3.3
Crosses P90	4.7	2.9	4.2	4.7
Key Passes P90	1.9	2.2	3.3	1.9
Big Chances Created	11	22	30	9
*League minutes only

Sane holds his own in the above metrics up against a Bayern team who once again dominated the Bundesliga, especially in the second half of the season.

Hansi Flick will have a wealth of talent at his disposal next season, and with them usually deploying a 4-2-3-1 formation with three forwards behind central striker Robert Lewandowski, that means that one of the four players on our list will likely have to settle for a place on the bench more often than not.

Unfortunately for Kingsley Coman, it is going to be him. The Frenchman has shared responsibilities on the left wing this season with Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Perisic, while Gnabry has been one of the first names on the team sheet on the right. But Coman is too often injured, managing just 1507 Bundesliga minutes, while Coutinho and Perisic are both on loan and it's unclear whether those deals will be renewed.

With Sane arriving, Bayern will retain the electric speed of Coman but add more of a goal threat. Coman's seven combined goals and assists in 17 starts for the Bavarian side is not great in a team this dominant, and if Sane plays to the peak of his powers like in 18/19 then the German champions could be adding treble the amount of goals and assists to their left flank, or at least the capacity for them.

Jude Bellingham closing in on £20m Dortmund switch

Out of the players on our list, Sane has outperformed his expected goals and assists to the highest degree, too, and in a team that domestically dominates more than Manchester City does, he will find himself in even more positions to impact proceedings with a goal or assist,

Thomas Muller has become the assist king of Europe in 19/20, setting up no less that 21 strikes for his team-mates in the Bundesliga. Sane actually achieved the exact same number of crosses P90 in 18/19 as Muller has in 19/20, and even though Muller outperforms him in terms of key passes, this represents a clear opportunity for Sane to boost his assists for next season.

Whoever dons the red of Bayern most regularly in 20/21, they will come from a selection of perhaps the finest forward line in Europe.

officialfootballcritic

Follow @criticfootball_