Leroy Aziz Sané (born 11 January 1996) is a German professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Bayern Munich and the German national team. Considered one of the best wingers in the world, Sané is known for his exceptional pace, dribbling ability and clinical finishing. Sané made his professional debut for

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

in 2014 and transferred to Manchester City in 2016 for an initial £37 million fee. He was voted

PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the s ...

in 2017–18, becoming the first and only German player to win the award, after helping City win the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

and EFL Cup, a feat the side bettered by winning a

domestic treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

the following season. Sané made his senior international debut for Germany in November 2015 and was part of their squad that reached the semi-finals of

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

Early life

Sané was born on 11 January 1996 in Essen, Germany and was raised near the Lohrheidestadion,

Wattenscheid Wattenscheid () is a Stadtbezirk of the city of Bochum. Until 1975, it was a separate town in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia. Wattenscheid has a population of about 80,000 citizens. Some notable firms have their headquarters in there, ...

. He is the son of former German rhythmic gymnast and

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

bronze medalist

Regina Weber Regina Weber (born 12 April 1963) is a German former individual Rhythmic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnast. She is the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 Olympic All-around bronze medalist. Personal life She married the Senegalese former footballer Soule ...

, and former footballer and Senegalese international Souleymane Sané. He was named Leroy in honour of Claude Le Roy, a former head coach of his father. His father met his mother while playing professionally for

SG Wattenscheid 09 SG Wattenscheid 09 is a Football in Germany, German association football club located in Wattenscheid, Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club claimed an official founding date of 18 September 1909 as Ballspiel-Verein Wattenscheid out of the me ...

. Souleymane Sané was raised in France; he moved to Germany through his service in the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

. Sané's two brothers, Kim and

Sidi ''Sidi'' or ''Sayidi'', also Sayyidi and Sayeedi, ( ar, سيدي, Sayyīdī, Sīdī (dialectal) "milord") is an Arabic masculine title of respect. ''Sidi'' is used often to mean "saint" or "my master" in Maghrebi Arabic and Egyptian Arabic. Wit ...

, have played for the youth side or second XI of major German football clubs.

Club career

Early career

Sané began playing football in 2001 for the youth team of SG Wattenscheid 09. In 2005, he joined

. Three years later, he joined

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

, before returning to the Schalke youth academy (''Nachwuchsleistungszentrum'') in 2011.

Schalke 04

On 21 March 2014, Sané signed a three-year professional contract with Schalke ending on 30 June 2017. He made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

debut on 20 April 2014 against

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

. He replaced Max Meyer after 77 minutes in a 3–1 away defeat. He scored his first goal of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

in a 2–1 home defeat to 1. FC Köln on 13 December. On 11 March 2015, Sané scored in his first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

match in a 4–3 victory over Real Madrid, although his side were knocked out of the

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ...

on 5–4 aggregate.

Manchester City

2016–17: Debut season

On 2 August 2016, Sané joined

club Manchester City, signing a five-year contract for a reported £37 million transfer fee, with performance-related add-ons potentially making the fee £46.5 million. He made his debut in a 1–2 win in the

Manchester derby The Manchester derby refers to football matches between Manchester City and Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, east Manchester, while United play at Old Trafford in the borough of ...

against Manchester United on 10 September. His first goal for City came in a 2–1 home win against Arsenal in the Premier League on 18 December. Following a spell on the sidelines due to injury, Sané made his return in a game against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

and scored in the 2–2 draw at the City of Manchester Stadium on 21 January 2017. On 28 January, he scored in a 3–0 away win over Crystal Palace in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

match. On 21 February, Sané scored in a 5–3 comeback win over

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

in the Champions League

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

first leg match. On 1 March, he scored in a 5–1 home win over Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup fifth round replay match. Four days later, on 5 March, he scored in a 2–0 away win over Sunderland. On 15 March, Sané scored in the return fixture of the Champions League tie against Monaco; however, City lost 1–3, knocking them out from the tournament on

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. On 2 April, Sané scored the opening goal in an eventual 2–2 draw with Arsenal. On 15 April, he scored in a 3–0 win over

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. In July 2017, Sané said he believed his debut season at City had been limited by his inability to breathe through his nose. He said he particularly suffered during matches, with his constantly blocked nose hampering his performance and causing him intense frustration. He opted to have corrective surgery during the off-season break. Although this caused him to miss that year's FIFA Confederations Cup, he said his chronic nasal congestion was becoming increasingly unbearable for him and that he wished to enter the next season feeling happy and healthy.

2017–19: Back-to-back league titles

On 9 September 2017, Sané scored his first two goals of the 2017–18 season in City's 5–0 home win against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. On 20 September, he scored twice in a 2–1 away win over West Bromwich Albionin the third round match of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. On 23 September, he scored in a 5–0 win over

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

. On 14 October, he scored in a 7–2 win over Stoke City. On 21 October, he scored in a 3–0 win over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

. On 28 October, he scored in a 3–2 away win over

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. After scoring and assisting once in each of his three matches, he earned the

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 10 ...

award for October 2017. On 6 January 2018, he scored in a 4–1 win in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

over Burnley. On 14 January, he scored in a 4–3 defeat to Liverpool. Nine days later, on 23 January, he scored in a 3–2 away win over Bristol City, securing advancement into the League Cup final, in which he played 77 minutes before being substituted off as City won 3–0 over Arsenal to clinch their first trophy under Pep Guardiola. On 1 March, five days following the win in the final, he scored against Arsenal in a 3–0 league away win. On 31 March, he scored in a 3–1 away win over Everton, putting City just a win away from winning the league title. On 29 April, he scored in a 4–1 away win over West Ham United. Sané was voted the

for his part in Manchester City's 2017–18 Premier League title win, edging teammates

Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger and attacking midfielder for club Chelsea. Born in Jamaica, he represents the England national team. Born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents, S ...

and Ederson, as well as Tottenham Hotspur's

Harry Kane Harry Edward Kane (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team. A prolific goalscorer with strong link play, Kane is regarded as one of ...

. With 15 assists, Sané just missed out on winning the inaugural Premier League Playmaker of the Season award to fellow teammate

Kevin De Bruyne Kevin De Bruyne (born 28 June 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester City and the Belgium national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world. Pundits have often des ...

. On 15 September 2018, Sané scored the opening goal and his first of the 2018–19 season in City's 3–0 home win against Fulham. He later scored the final goal in consecutive home match wins over Burnley and Southampton. On 24 November, Sané assisted a first-half goal for Sterling and scored a brace in a 4–0 away win over West Ham United. On 3 January 2019, he scored the winning goal for Manchester City in the 72nd minute of the game against Liverpool, which resulted in Liverpool's first and only league defeat of the season. On 21 February 2019, Manchester City were 2–1 down in the first leg of the Champions League

tie against Sané's former club, Schalke, playing with only 10 men after

Nicolás Otamendi Nicolás Hernán Gonzalo Otamendi (born 12 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Portuguese Primeira Liga club Benfica and the Argentina national team. Otamendi played for Vélez Sarsfield and ...

was sent off on the 68th minute. Sané levelled the scores with a stunning free kick from just under 30 yards only seven minutes after being substituted for

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest play ...

. He chose not to celebrate out of respect for his former club. City went on to win the game 3–2 with the winning goal scored by Raheem Sterling. On 13 March 2019, in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 clash against Schalke, Sané put in an incredible performance with three assists and a goal to contribute to Manchester City's 7–0 victory against his former club, sending City to the quarter-finals of the competition. On 24 April 2019, Sané scored the second and final goal in a match against Manchester United during the 66th minute to secure City a Manchester derby win. It was his first Manchester derby goal.

2019–20: Injury

Sané was repeatedly linked with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich to replace club staples

Franck Ribéry Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry (; born 7 April 1983) is a French former professional footballer who primarily played as a winger, preferably on the left side, and was known for his pace, energy, skill, and precise passing. Ribéry has been des ...

, who was leaving the club, and retiring

Arjen Robben Arjen Robben (; born 23 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a winger. He was known for his dribbling skills, speed, ball control and long-range shots. Robben is regarded as one of the best players of his gener ...

. Despite a deal to the German side reportedly being nearly finalized, Sané was named in the starting 11 against Liverpool in the FA Community Shield. After only 10 minutes, Sané was substituted after sustaining a torn ACL, ruling him out for the majority of the season and ending talks with Bayern until his injury healed. In June 2020, Sané rejected a contract extension at Manchester City, with Guardiola stating that Sané would leave the club in the summer.

Bayern Munich

On 3 July 2020, Bayern Munich agreed to sign a five-year deal with Sané for an initial €45 million with add-ons rising to a potential €60 million. Sané scored on his second Bundesliga debut in an 8–0 win against former club Schalke 04. On 3 November 2020, Sané scored his first Champions League goal for Bayern Munich in a 6–2 away win over Red Bull Salzburg in the 2020–21 season. In the 2021–22 Champions League season, he scored six goals and provided six assists in ten matches including three goals in two matches against Benfica. On 7 September 2022, he scored a goal and had his shot deflected to an own goal in a 2–0 away win against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

in the first match of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League. On 4 October 2022, he scored a brace in a 5–0 win over

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victoria ...

, to reach his 20th goal in the Champions League.

International career

Youth

Sané was first called up to the Germany under-21 team by youth coach

Horst Hrubesch Horst Hrubesch (; born 17 April 1951) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Hamburger SV. As a player, Hrubesch won three West German championships with his club side, Hamburger SV, as well as the European C ...

on 28 August 2015 for the friendly against Denmark and for the

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2017) was the 21st edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men's under-21 na ...

qualifier against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

. On 3 September 2015, he made his debut for the German U21 side in a 2–1 win at Stadion an der Lohmühle in

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, where he was replaced after 73 minutes by Julian Brandt.

Senior

Sané received his first senior call-up to the German senior team on 6 November 2015 in a friendly against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Sané was eligible to play for France, due to also holding

French citizenship French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nationality, ''jus sanguinis'' ( ...

. On 13 November 2015, he was substituted in the 61st-minute for

Julian Draxler Julian Draxler (born 20 September 1993) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Primeira Liga club Benfica, on loan from Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain, and the Germany national team. Draxler is known ...

in a friendly match against France in Saint-Denis in a 2–0 defeat for the Germans that was overshadowed by shootings and explosions around the stadium. Sané was selected by Germany boss

Joachim Löw Joachim Löw (born 3 February 1960) is a German football coach and former player. He was the manager of the Germany national team from 2006 until 2021. During his tenure as manager, he led Germany to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil ...

to represent the country at

. He participated in one match, replacing

Bastian Schweinsteiger Bastian Schweinsteiger (; born 1 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who usually played as a central midfielder. Earlier in his career, he primarily played as a wide midfielder. Schweinsteiger is regarded as one of the grea ...

in the 79th minute in Germany's 2–0 semi-final defeat to France. Sané was omitted from Germany's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in favour of another young player, Julian Brandt, on 4 June 2018. In September 2018, after he was selected for the squad to face games against France and Peru, he left the team hotel after a discussion with Joachim Löw, citing "personal reasons" as his cause for leaving. It was later revealed that the reason for leaving was due to the birth of his daughter. On 16 November 2018, he scored his first goal for Germany against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

following an assist from Serge Gnabry. The goal came in the eighth minute of the game as Germany won 3–0. On 19 May 2021, he was selected to the squad for the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Sané goal.''

Honours

Manchester City *

: 2017–18, 2018–19 *

: 2018–19 * EFL Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19 * FA Community Shield:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Bayern Munich *

: 2020–21, 2021–22 * DFL-Supercup:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

* FIFA Club World Cup:

Germany * FIFA Confederations Cup:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Individual *

: 2017–18 *

: October 2017 * VDV Newcomer of the Season: 2014–15 *

Fantasy Football Team of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the FC Bayern Munich website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sane, Leroy 1996 births Living people Footballers from Essen German footballers Germany youth international footballers Germany under-21 international footballers Germany international footballers Association football wingers FC Schalke 04 II players FC Schalke 04 players Manchester City F.C. players FC Bayern Munich footballers Bundesliga players Premier League players FA Cup Final players UEFA Euro 2016 players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players German expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England German expatriate sportspeople in England German people of Senegalese descent German people of French descent Black French sportspeople French people of German descent French sportspeople of Senegalese descent