*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:29, 30 March 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:00, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
Sané made his professional debut for
Schalke 04 in 2014 and transferred to Manchester City in 2016 for an initial £37 million fee. He was voted
PFA Young Player of the Year in 2017–18, becoming the first and so far only German player to win the award, after helping City win the
Premier League and
EFL Cup.
Sané made his senior international debut for Germany in November 2015 and was part of their squad that reached the semi-finals of
UEFA Euro 2016.
Sané began playing football in 2001 for the youth team of SG Wattenscheid 09. In 2005, he joined
Schalke 04. Three years later, he joined
Bayer Leverkusen, before returning to the Schalke youth academy (Nachwuchsleistungszentrum) in 2011.[citation needed]
Schalke 04
On 21 March 2014, Sané signed a three-year professional contract with Schalke ending on 30 June 2017.[7] He made his
Bundesliga debut on 20 April 2014 against
VfB Stuttgart.[12] He replaced
Max Meyer after 77 minutes in a 3–1 away defeat.[12] He scored his first goal of the
season in a 2–1 home defeat to
1. FC Köln on 13 December.[13] On 11 March 2015, Sané scored in his first
UEFA Champions League match in a 4–3 victory over
Real Madrid, although his side were knocked out of the
competition on 5–4 aggregate.[14][15]
Manchester City
2016–17: Debut season
On 2 August 2016, Sané joined
Premier League club
Manchester City, signing a five-year contract for a reported £37 million transfer fee, with performance-related add-ons potentially making the fee £46.5 million.[16][17] He made his debut in a 1–2 win in the
Manchester derby against
Manchester United on 10 September.[18] His first goal for City came in a 2–1 home win against
Arsenal in the Premier League on 18 December.[19] Following a spell on the sidelines due to injury, Sané made his return in a game against
Tottenham Hotspur and scored in the 2–2 draw at the
City of Manchester Stadium on 21 January 2017.[20] On 28 January, he scored in a 3–0 away win over Crystal Palace in the
FA Cupfourth round match.[21]
On 21 February, Sané scored in a 5–3 comeback win over
Monaco in the
Champions Leagueround of 16 first leg match.[22] On 1 March, he scored in a 5–1 home win over Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup
fifth round replay match.[23] Four days later, on 5 March, he scored in a 2–0 away win over Sunderland.[24] On 15 March, Sané scored in the
return fixture of the Champions League tie against Monaco; however, City lost 1–3, knocking them out from the tournament on
away goals.[25] On 2 April, Sané scored the opening goal in an eventual 2–2 draw with Arsenal.[26] On 15 April, he scored in a 3–0 win over
Southampton.[27]
In July 2017, Sané said he believed his debut season at City had been limited by his inability to breathe through his nose.[28] He said he particularly suffered during matches, with his constantly blocked nose hampering his performance and causing him intense frustration.[29] He opted to have corrective surgery during the off-season break. Although this caused him to miss that year's
FIFA Confederations Cup, he said his chronic nasal congestion was becoming increasingly unbearable for him and that he wished to enter the next season feeling happy and healthy.[28]
2017–19: Back-to-back league titles
Sané scored his first two goals of the
2017–18 season in City's 5–0 home win against
Liverpool on 9 September 2017.[30] On 20 September, he scored twice in a 2–1 away win over West Bromwich Albionin the
third-round match of the
League Cup.[31] On 23 September, he scored in a 5–0 win over
Crystal Palace.[32] On 14 October, he scored in a 7–2 win over
Stoke City.[33] On 21 October, he scored in a 3–0 win over
Burnley.[34] On 28 October, he scored in a 3–2 away win over
West Bromwich Albion.[35] After scoring and assisting once in each of his three matches, he earned the
Premier League Player of the Month award for October 2017.[36] On 6 January 2018, he scored in a 4–1 win in the
FA Cupthird round over Burnley.[37] On 14 January, he scored in a 4–3 defeat to Liverpool.[38] Nine days later, on 23 January, he scored in a 3–2 away win over Bristol City, securing advancement into the
League Cup final, in which he played 77 minutes before being substituted off as City won 3–0 over Arsenal to clinch their first trophy under
Pep Guardiola.[39][40] On 1 March, five days following the win in the final, he scored against Arsenal in a 3–0 league away win.[41] On 31 March, he scored in a 3–1 away win over Everton, putting City just a win away from winning the league title.[42] On 29 April, he scored in a 4–1 away win over West Ham United.[43]
On 15 September 2018, Sané scored the opening goal and his first of the
2018–19 season in City's 3–0 home win against
Fulham.[48] He later scored the final goal in consecutive home match wins over Burnley and Southampton.[49][50] On 24 November, Sané assisted a first-half goal for Sterling and scored a brace in a 4–0 away win over West Ham United.[51]
On 3 January 2019, he scored the winning goal for Manchester City in the 72nd minute of the game against Liverpool, which resulted in Liverpool's first and only league defeat of the season.[52] On 21 February 2019, Manchester City were 2–1 down in the first leg of the
Champions Leagueround of 16 tie against Sané's former club, Schalke, playing with only 10 men after
Nicolás Otamendi was sent off on the 68th minute. Sané levelled the scores with a stunning free kick from just under 30 yards only seven minutes after being substituted for
Sergio Agüero. He chose not to celebrate out of respect for his former club. City went on to win the game 3–2 with the winning goal scored by Raheem Sterling.[53]
On 13 March 2019, in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 clash against Schalke, Sané put in an incredible performance with three assists and a goal to contribute to Manchester City's 7–0 victory against his former club, sending City to the quarter-finals of the competition.[54] On 24 April 2019, Sané scored the second and final goal in a match against Manchester United during the 66th minute to secure City a Manchester derby win.[55] It was his first Manchester derby goal.[56][57][58]
2019–20: Injury
Sané was repeatedly linked with Bundesliga champions
Bayern Munich to replace club staples
Franck Ribéry, who was leaving the club, and retiring
Arjen Robben.[59] Despite a deal to the German side reportedly being nearly finalized, Sané was named in the starting 11 against Liverpool in the
FA Community Shield. After only 10 minutes, Sané was substituted after sustaining a torn ACL, ruling him out for the majority of the season and ending talks with Bayern until his injury healed.[60] In June 2020, Sané rejected a contract extension at Manchester City, with Guardiola stating that Sané would leave the club in the summer.[61]
Bayern Munich
On 3 July 2020, Bayern Munich agreed to sign a five-year deal with Sané[62][63] for an initial €45 million with add-ons rising to a potential €60 million.[64] Sané scored on his second Bundesliga debut in an 8–0 win against former club Schalke 04.[65] On 3 November 2020, Sané scored his first Champions League goal for Bayern Munich in a 6–2 away win over
Red Bull Salzburg in the
2020–21 season.[66]
In the
2021–22 Champions League season, he scored six goals and provided six assists in ten matches including three goals in two matches against
Benfica.[67] On 7 September 2022, he scored a goal and had his shot deflected to an own goal in a 2–0 away win against
Inter Milan, to be awarded Player of the Match in the first encounter of the
2022–23 UEFA Champions League.[68] A month later, on 4 October, he scored a brace in a 5–0 win over
Viktoria Plzeň, to reach his 20th goal in the Champions League.[69]
On 20 September 2023, Sané scored the first goal in a 4–3 victory over Manchester United to be named Man of the Match in the opening fixture of the
2023–24 Champions League campaign,[70] which was also his club's first goal in the competition for the second consecutive season against the same goalkeeper,
André Onana, with two different clubs.[71] Subsequently, he was named Bayern's Player of the Month for the previous month of August.[72]
Sané was selected by Germany boss
Joachim Löw to represent the country at
UEFA Euro 2016.[77] He participated in one match, replacing
Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 79th minute in Germany's 2–0 semi-final defeat to France.[78]
Sané was omitted from Germany's final 23-man squad for the
2018 FIFA World Cup in favour of another young player, Julian Brandt, on 4 June 2018.[79] In September 2018, after he was selected for the squad to face games against France and
Peru, he left the team hotel after a discussion with Joachim Löw, citing "personal reasons" as his cause for leaving.[80] It was later revealed that the reason for leaving was due to the birth of his daughter.[81][82]
On 16 November 2018, he scored his first goal for Germany against
Russia following an assist from
Serge Gnabry. The goal came in the eighth minute of the game as Germany won 3–0.[83]
^Philipp Rentsch (26 May 2015).
"Leroy Sane: Nicht einfach zwischen den Welten zu switchen". westline (in German). westline GbR: Aschendorff Medien GmbH & Co. KG und WestOnline GmbH & Co. KG in Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts. Archived from
the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
^McNulty, Phil (24 February 2019).
"Chelsea 0–0 Manchester City". BBC Sport.
Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.