Pep Guardiola has revealed that Leroy Sane was close to signing a new Manchester City contract until a setback in negotiations a month ago.
Sané, whose current Etihad deal expires in the summer of 2021, is the subject of interest from Bayern Munich.
City are keen to keep Sané at the club and remain in negotiations with the 23-year-old’s representatives, but Guardiola said on Friday that an agreement was yet to be reached.
Txiki Begiristain, City’s director of football, informed Guardiola that a deal with Sané was close last month but the situation has since changed.
“I said many times I want players who want to stay because it’s impossible for me as a manager to convince a player to do what we want to do when his head is away from here,” the City manager said.
“But the player didn’t tell me anything that he wants to leave, so that is the only reality I have.
“If he knocks on the door and tells me he wants to leave then, OK, we are going to speak with the club. But nobody has told me that.
“We want him to stay here because we try to extend the contract for more than one year, we were quite close a month ago and now it’s a little bit different but that’s the reality – I can’t say any more. That’s where it is.”
Guardiola added: “What Txiki sent me two or three weeks ago, it was quite close. Now it’s not.” The City manager said he did not know the reason behind the setback.
On Thursday, Bayern publicly denied reports in Germany which suggested that Sane was on the verge of leaving City for the Bundesliga champions.
