It’s hard to imagine decision-makers at Arsenal having observed Leroy San é’s latest display for FC Bayern with any amount of awe.
If anything, one might reasonably suspect the Premier League giants will have breathed a collective sigh of relief after the player opted to move to Turkey this summer.
The German international is due to join Galatasaray as a free agent on July 1.
Leroy San é was wasteful against Benfica
Trubin saves a shot from Leroy Sane in Charlotte.
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
What a disappointing way to potentially bow out at Bayern Munich.
The versatile winger was wasteful beyond measure as the Bavarian giants succumbed to a somewhat unfortunate 1-0 defeat to Benfica.
The Portuguese giants took an early lead in the 13th minute via Andreas Schjelderup’s well-timed late run into the box (albeit, having caught Sacha Boey napping).
Despite getting on the end of two one-v-ones in the second half, however, Sané could only manage to make Anatoliy Trubin look a level of class beyond the Primeira Liga. To the Ukrainian goalkeeper’s credit, his quality was not isolated to these two moments.
That said, there’s no question in our minds here at CF Bayern Insider that the winger (valued at €32m [£27.2m], according to Transfermarkt) should have secured a minimum of a point for the Bundesliga champions.
It’s perhaps not the worst outcome for Arsenal missing out on Sané!
A demonstration of why Bayern need a new winger
There were signs of improvement from Leroy Sané over the course of the 2024/25 campaign.
Indeed, the former Manchester City star registered the fourth most goals (11) and assists (5) in the Bayern squad in the Bundesliga (in 30 games played) last term.
Yet Tuesday evening’s dismally inefficient display against Bruno Lage’s men more than justifies the pursuit of a top-quality replacement.
On the opposing flank, though also goalless, Michael Olise looked vibrant and frightening. Benfica did not know how to handle him.
There was almost a sense of inevitability behind each chance being spurned by Sané, one after the other.
Whoever comes in to fill that gap on the left flank needs to perform a similar function to Olise. There needs to be width, an innate ability to find space and pull defenders out of position. And goals? Goals would be a welcome cherry on top.
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