Leroy Sane could make his return to first team action before the end of the year after significant progress in his rehabilitation.
The Man City winger suffered an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament last month which looked to have ruled him out until at least March.
But Sane has already been doing weighted leg presses of up to 20kg in the gym and may be back to jogging in the next few weeks, according to the Sun.
The 23-year-old has told friends he is ahead of schedule and is set to ramp up his conditioning work after the upcoming international break.
That has given admiring suitors Bayern Munich a boost, who are still keen on signing Sane.
Bayern made an approach for the German star in the summer, and are hoping to return with a fresh bid, providing Sane makes a full recovery.
City boss Pep Guardiola was adamant that Sane was still part of his plans at the Etihad, though talks over a new contract have stalled.
Sane still had two-and-a-half years left on his current deal, with City hopeful of tying him down for the next five years which would see him almost triple his £65,000-per-week wages.
He faces a battle to get back into the City team however, with Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez all performing well.
Sterling and Mahrez were both on the scoresheet as City earned a 3-1 win away at Everton on Saturday.
And Guardiola used the victory to send a message to league leaders Liverpool .
"This is our rival and we know we can’t drop too many points because last season they lost just one game," Guardiola said.
"The season is long, we have to keep going and be there, maybe we can push them a little bit more and try to make the third Premier League in a row."
