Schalke are expecting a bid of around £35m for their forward Leroy Sané from Manchester City in the next week. The 20-year-old, who has been on City’s radar since 2013, is keen to move to the Premier League but Schalke hope to receive nearer to £45m for a player who made his debut for Germany against France last year.
Sané is regarded as the most talented player of his generation in Germany and is the kind of player the new City manager, Pep Guardiola, wants in his squad. Quick, skilful and hard-working, Sané was included in Germany’s Euro 2016 squad but played only 11 minutes, against France in the semi-final, which Germany lost 2-0.
The 20-year-old, the son of a former Senegal striker, made his debut for Schalke in April 2014 and has 11 goals and seven assists in 47 Bundesliga games for the club.
Schalke have denied reports in German media that he has a buy-out clause of £30m, which can be activated next summer. The 20-year-old has a contract with Schalke until 2019.
Manchester City have already signed Ilkay Gündogan from Borussia Dortmund, Nolito from Celta Vigo and Oleksandr Zinchenko from the Ukrainian club FC Ufa this summer.