It's only taken a year for Leroy Sane to be linked with a move back to the Premier League.
He put all of his chips on Bayern Munich, rejecting a new contract at Manchester City and forcing them to sell at the start of the 2020 summer transfer window.
Injury had restricted Sane to just one Premier League appearance in 2019/20, and City were firm that they wouldn't fight to keep a player who didn't want to be there. As a result, a fee was agreed for Sane, who left the Etihad after three years.
His time at City will be remembered for some sparkling moments, capped by the winner against Liverpool in that thrilling win in 2018/19 that proved to be decisive in the title race - a strike that couldn't have been hit better on the stride if he tried.
Make no mistake, losing Sane was a big loss for City. A player who Pep Guardiola would have happily built a squad around, was leaving prematurely.
And Bayern seemed a good fit. They'd make him the superstar he needed to be in Germany to establish himself in the national side first-choice XI. They'd also just won the Champions League, and looked better prepared for another crack at that particular trophy than City.
As it happened, it was City contesting the final to take Bayern's title. Sane made 49 appearances for Bayern under Hansi Flick, and after recovering from injury has featured in the last 13 Germany internationals.
It's not all been plain sailing, though. His return of 11 goals and 15 assists is a strong return for a debut campaign, but is a decrease on the 34 and 33 goal contributions he had in his last two full seasons at City.
There was also an infamous incident where Sane was given the ultimate embarrassment for a footballer - substituted after coming on as a substitute. He has also been told to improve his defensive output for the team. Sound familiar?
Now Flick is in charge of the national team, Julian Nagelsmann is at Bayern. The former Leipzig manager is a friend of Pep Guardiola's, and often mentioned as a potential successor of the City boss.
If Sane didn't like Guardiola's management or style, he might have to get used to a similar approach again under Nagelsmann.
So it's hardly a surprise to see fresh links suggesting Sane might be wanted by Chelsea to link up with Thomas Tuchel, a manager who admittedly feels like a perfect fit for the winger.
That could put City in a difficult position if Chelsea were to target a former key player, who they know first-hand has title-winning qualities.
However, City's journey with Sane has ended, and they now have three solid options on the left-wing in Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish. There's also Ferran Torres who fills the squad role of young, pacey, explosive forward.
City play differently now, especially with their lack of striker options, and don't need another winger. Don't expect Sane to suddenly return and play through the middle and solve all of City's problems.
It would be a shame to see Sane at Chelsea, but if he was to leave Bayern then City know better than to try and resurrect a relationship that is probably best left in the past.
City have moved on.
