Leroy Sane had attracted lots of attention, including from Arsenal, in recent weeks, but he is now set to snub the Gunners and Bayern Munich to join Galatasaray
Arsenal have missed out on the signing of Leroy Sane after Galatasaray jumped to the front of the queue. Sane is an in-demand commodity in the summer transfer window because his Bayern Munich contract is about to expire and Arsenal are one of the clubs who have shown an interest in signing the winger.
Sane’s contract has been a long-running drama at Bayern this year, with stories continually leaking about his future. The Bavarian giants had been confident of securing the winger’s services beyond the expiry of his deal on June 30, but that hope has now disappeared.
The 29-year-old will now skip the Club World Cup, which kicks off in the United States this weekend, in order to seal a move elsewhere. There was interest from the Premier League, Napoli, Saudi club Al-Hilal and Fenerbahce but Galatasaray have beaten them all to capture the Germany international.
L’Équipe says that Arsenal have dropped out of the race after Sane’s representatives went to Istanbul to hammer out a deal. Sky Sports Germany says he has now verbally agreed to join the Turkish side as a free agent when his Bayern deal expires on June 30.
He will sign a three-year contract with Galatasaray that is worth €15million (£12.72m) per year, according to The Athletic, which is roughly equivalent to £475,000-a-week. It is quite the coup from the club, who did the domestic double last season by winning the Turkish Super Lig and Turkish Cup.
Galatasaray are about to lose their star player from the 2024/25 season, with Victor Osimhen’s loan spell from Napoli expiring. Osimhen is being courted by a number of clubs, including those in the Premier League, ahead of a transfer this summer, and Sane will take up the mantle as the club’s biggest star.
The news will come as a blow to Arsenal, who had targeted Sane as a way of strengthening their options on the wing. The Germany international represented a cheaper alternative to Athletic Bilbao star Nico Williams and already has a relationship with Mikel Arteta from their time together at Manchester City.
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Early in his Bayern spell, Sane talked up the influence Arteta had on his career. "I can just say positive things about Mikel Arteta. Since we started working together, he has helped me a lot on the pitch," he told The Independent.
"He tried to improve my football, he told me what I did good and what I did wrong, and he tried to work on it. Next to Pep, they both really helped me and improved me, to bring me to the next level.
"Even now, at Arsenal, for me, you can see he's doing a great job. You can see he has a concept, a way that he wants to play, a way that he wants his team to play, and obviously, it will take some time until everybody really understands it. I think he will do a great job as a [head] coach too."