Leroy Aziz Sané (born 11 January 1996) is a German professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a winger for club

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

and the

German national team German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. 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 in 2014 and transferred to Manchester City in 2016 for an initial £37 million fee. He was voted PFA Young Player of the Year 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 Foo ...

and

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

, a feat the side bettered by winning a domestic treble 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 o ...

Early life

Sané was born on 11 January 1996 in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

, Germany and was raised near the

Lohrheidestadion The Lohrheidestadion is a multi-use stadium in Bochum-Wattenscheid, Germany. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of SG Wattenscheid 09. The stadium is able to hold 16,233 people and opened in 1954. It is us ...

, Wattenscheid. He is the son of former German

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordi ...

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 secon ...

bronze medalist

Regina Weber Regina Weber (born 12 April 1963) is a German former individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 1984 Olympic All-around bronze medalist. Personal life She married the Senegalese former footballer Souleyman Sané. They have 3 sons: Kim Sané, L ...

, and former footballer and Senegalese international

Souleymane Sané Souleymane "Samy" Jean Sané (born 26 February 1961) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the father of Germany forward Leroy Sané. Playing career Sané was born to Senegalese diplomats, and moved to F ...

. He was named Leroy in honour of

Claude Le Roy Claude Le Roy (born 6 February 1948) is a French football manager and former player, who gained prominence at international level as coach to the Senegal and Ghana national teams. He was most recently the manager of the Togo national team. Ma ...

, a former head coach of his father. His father met his mother while playing professionally for SG Wattenscheid 09. 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 For ...

. Sané's two brothers, Kim and Sidi, 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 Schalke 04. Three years later, he joined Bayer Leverkusen, 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 Stu ...

. 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 pol ...

in a 2–1 home defeat to

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...

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 competit ...

match in a 4–3 victory over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, 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, indivi ...

on 5–4 aggregate.

Manchester City

2016–17: Debut season

On 2 August 2016, Sané joined

club

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, 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 against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

on 10 September. His first goal for City came in a 2–1 home win against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

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 association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

and scored in the 2–2 draw at the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

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 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 first leg match. On 1 March, he scored in a 5–1 home win over Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup

fifth round Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash th ...

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. 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 The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

, 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 popul ...

. On 20 September, he scored twice in a 2–1 away win over West Bromwich Albionin the third round match of the League Cup. On 23 September, he scored in a 5–0 win over Crystal Palace. On 14 October, he scored in a 7–2 win over

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. 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, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. 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 pla ...

. After scoring and assisting once in each of his three matches, he earned the Premier League Player of the Month award for October 2017. On 6 January 2018, he scored in a 4–1 win in the

third round 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 Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of club Manchester City. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the re ...

. 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 PFA Young Player of the Year for his part in Manchester City's

2017–18 Premier League The 2017–18 Premier League was the 26th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 119th season of top-flight English football overall. The season ...

title win, edging teammates Raheem Sterling and Ederson, as well as Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane. With 15 assists, Sané just missed out on winning the inaugural

Premier League Playmaker of the Season The Premier League Playmaker of the Season is an annual English football award, presented to the player who has made the most assists (the last pass made before a goal scored) in the Premier League. For sponsorship purposes, it was called the Cad ...

award to fellow teammate Kevin De Bruyne. 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 Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. 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 round of 16 tie against Sané's former club, Schalke, playing with only 10 men after Nicolás Otamendi 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 playe ...

. 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

to replace club staples Franck Ribéry, who was leaving the club, and retiring Arjen Robben. 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 The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

. 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 Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

in the first match of the

2022–23 UEFA Champions League The 2022–23 UEFA Champions League is the 68th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 31st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final will b ...

. 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 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 th ...

. 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 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 = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, where he was replaced after 73 minutes by

Julian Brandt Julian Brandt (; born 2 May 1996) is a German professional footballer who plays as a right winger, central midfielder or attacking midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Germany national team. Brandt made over 55 combined appe ...

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 France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

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

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 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 great ...

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 The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

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 List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

following an assist from

Serge Gnabry Serge may refer to: *Serge (fabric), a type of twill fabric *Serge (llama) (born 2005), a llama in the Cirque Franco-Italien and internet meme *Serge (name), a masculine given name (includes a list of people with this name) *Serge (post), a hitchi ...

. 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 *

: 2017–18, 2018–19 *

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 United ...

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 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 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 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

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

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 originall ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

Germany *

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 ser ...

Individual * PFA Young Player of the Year: 2017–18 * Premier League Player of the Month: 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