Schalke general manager Horst Heldt appears to have a tough one month ahead, as he fights to keep star forward Leroy Sane at the club.
The 19-year-old is subjected to transfer interest from the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City. Aware that these clubs with lot of spending power,Heldt appears to have put an unspecified pricetag on the player. He says that Manchester City, who have spent in excess of £ 100 million in the summer alone, will not be capable of offering the transfer fee of Sane. This comes as a mighty statement for a player who has scored five goals in 21 appearances.
However, Sane is now regarded as one of the brightest young players in German football. Manchester City are thought to be unhappy with the performances of winger Jesus Navas. Even though the Sevilla winger has provided pace and skill whenever necessary, he has not helped the team with his poor end product. His finishing has also been very poor and this has led to the player going more than 60 league matches without a goal. For their part, Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini claimed that the club are not looking to invest significantly in new players in January because he expects a relatively quiet transfer window.
"We don't want to sell him and Leroy doesn't want to leave the club. Even Man City haven't got that much money!" said Heldtto German newspaper Bild. "No, really I think the squad is complete. As always, I said that we are not going to close the window but we are not really thinking of any special players to bring in," said Pellegrini. Real Madrid are thought to be the other competing club for the signature of the 19-year-old. City are likely to wait until the summer to secure the signing.