How Riyad Mahrez's nasal spray affected Leroy Sane's Bayern Munich move in 2019

The Leroy Sane transfer saga was one of the most significant talking points of the 2019 summer transfer window. The Manchester City winger was keen on moving to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, only for a severe injury to rule the move out. As it turns out, Leroy Sane was not supposed to feature in the game where he picked up the injury but had to start due to a nasal spray administered to Riyad Mahrez.

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Riyad Mahrez's nasal spray puts off Leroy Sane's transfer to Bayern Munich

Leroy Sane has been out of action for the last five months after undergoing a cruciate ligament surgery after injuring himself in Manchester City’s Community Shield clash against Liverpool. The injury put an end to Bayern Munich's hopes of acquiring the German international in August, but The Athletic have now revealed that Leroy Sane’s Manchester City teammate Riyad Mahrez was set to play in the Wembley clash. Mahrez, however, was battling a cold while on international duty at the African Cup of Nations and was administered a nasal spray by the Algerian FA. Manchester City medical staff were unable to ascertain the content of the nasal spray upon his return to Manchester and decided to rest Riyad Mahrez to avoid a doping ban. The FA were notified, and Leroy Sane started for the last time for at least five months.

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Why are Bayern Munich chasing Leroy Sane?

Bayern Munich Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic ruled out a move for Leroy Sane in January.  However, Bayern are looking to sign the Manchester City winger after the end of the current season and would hope that a Riyad Mahrez nasal spray doesn’t halt the transfer this time around. Bayern are looking to rebuild after longtime starters Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben left the club last summer and the possibility of having Leroy Sane back in Germany is a prospect Bayern Munich like pretty much. Kingsley Coman’s injury struggles and Ivan Perisic’s far from a spectacular loan spell at the Allianz Arena have made it a necessity for Bayern to sign a quality winger and for now, the Bavarian giants aren’t looking past Manchester City star Leroy Sane.

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Leroy Sane's tryst with Germany

Leroy Sane is a German international and made his senior football debut in the Bundesliga. The winger chose to represent Germany despite being eligible to represent France. Sane spent most of his youth career at Schalke and made his debut for the senior team in April 2014. Sane made 57 appearances for Schalke across three seasons, scoring 13 goals for the club. The German featured thrice against Bayern in the Bundesliga but failed to make a mark on the game. Sane then pursued a move to the Etihad Stadium, with City paying Schalke a fee over £37 million. He has made 21 appearances for Germany, scoring five goals and was part of Germany’s 2016 EURO Squad but failed to make the 2018 World Cup as he was snubbed in favour of Julian Brandt.

Potential Leroy Sane replacements for Manchester City

Manchester City had quoted an asking price of £150m for Sane last summer, but Bayern Munich were willing to offer as far as £100m. The valuation is likely to decrease with Sane entering the final year of his contract in the summer and his injury. Manchester City would be expected to bag around £80m from the deal and have been linked with young Spanish star Mikel Oyarzabal from Real Sociedad. They could also target Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman in an agreement that sees Sane move to Munich, but it seems highly unlikely considering the winger’s recent injury history.