Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has issued an injury update on teammate Leroy Sane prior to this weekend's clash with Chelsea in the Premier League .
Sane has been sidelined since suffering an injury in the Community Shield win against Liverpool and required surgery to solve the problem.
The winger is expected to be out until 2020 at the earliest and has been heavily linked with a January transfer to Bayern Munich with no progress made on a new contract at the Etihad Stadium.
Gundogan - his international teammate with Germany - has provided an update on his injury situation.
"He made a positive impression," he told RTL.
"The good thing about him is that Leroy is now past the worst stage and will be able to return to the pitch in the next few weeks and play with the ball there soon after.
"So I hope he will be available to participate again in the middle of the second half of the season and also be available for the European Championship."
City manager Pep Guardiola previously said on Sane's fitness: "He's coming back before the end of the season.
"In January, December, February could be perfect. He should be perfect."
