Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Manchester City are chasing German youngster Leroy Sane as well as Englishman John Stones. The duo have long been rumoured to have been chased by Manchester City, but their Spanish manager revealed that Schalke and Everton can soon expect bids for the young stars.
Speaking after his first win as Man City manager, with the Sky Blues defeating Borussia Dortmund on penalties, Guardiola was in an unusually revelatory mood. The Spaniard did sound keen to not antagonize the parent clubs of his targets, saying of German youngster Sane, “He is a player from Schalke. If he comes, we'll be happy. If he stays, I'll be happy for the Schalke fans”
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In a similar vein, Guardiola was keen to note the City would try their best to bring 22-year-old John Stones into the club. When asked about rumours of a move for the Everton centre-back, Guardiola sounded like a broken record, saying “It’s the same answer for Sane - he's a player for Everton. Everyone knows we're going to try but we will see.”
Guardiola faces a tough task to rebuild City’s squad
Given Pep Guardiola’s stature within the game, there are many pundits who instantly placed the favourites tag on Manchester City the moment Guardiola’s appointment was announced. However, the Spaniard has not found things to be as rosy upon his arrival in English shores.
To begin with, despite signing Nolito, Ilkay Gundogan and Olexsandr Zinchenko, Guardiola has seen incoming transfers stalled due to City’s difficulty in offloading several first-team members of their squad. In addition, several players have arrived for pre-season from their summer exertions in bad shape, leading to Guardiola resorting to unusual solutions.
Speaking before the game against Dortmund, Pep gave vent to his feelings, saying “For me, the weight is so, so important. We need to run, to fight, to jump -- to have the ball, after three days, then another three days, then another three days. When you are not fit, that's when the injuries come.”
What is sure is that if Leroy Sane and John Stones do join, for rumoured fees of £42 million and £50 million respectively, they face an absolute taskmaster in the form of Pep Guardiola
