BAYERN MUNICH have reportedly held talks with Italian fixer Giovanni Branchini as they continue their interest in Leroy Sane.
The Manchester City flier’s ACL injury, which is expected to keep him out until February, means a January swoop is unlikely.
But Goal reports that Bayern are hopeful of completing a deal in the summer after being pictured meeting Branchini.
Sane, 23, was heavily linked with a return to Germany after the last window but City dug in and kept hold of him.
The winger faced competition for a spot in the starting XI with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez for company.
He started the Community Shield win over Liverpool but suffered his devastating injury after just 13 minutes to end any chances of a late move.
City drew 1-1 with Shakhtar Donetsk last night in a disappointing result that nevertheless secured top spot in their group.
And Pep Guardiola was pleased despite a dodgy performance, explaining: “The target was to qualify and we have done it,” said the Spaniard, who won the Champions League twice when in charge of Barcelona.
“This competition in February will be completely different, tougher. We’ll see in which conditions we arrive there. This competition is about the details.
“The group stage is always tricky but now we have one competition already done – we play the last game qualified as first in the group – so we can focus on the Premier League until we arrive in the cups.”
City face a ban from next season’s competition after being accused of breaking financial fair play rules.
But some positive news did arrive with the club’s owners owners selling a record-breaking 389million stake to US private equity firm Silver Lake.
