Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is preparing for life after Bayer Munich-bound Leroy Sane and has already identified Real Sociedad’s Mikel Oyarzabal as his replacement.
According to reports, Guardiola is confident that the Sociedad winger would be a success at the Etihad Stadium if he joined the club. Oyarzabal has scored six times and has four assists this season. The 22-year-old also bagged the opening goal in Sociedad’s 2-2 draw with Barcelona on Saturday, which has helped his side up to sixth in La Liga.
However, Guardiola sees Oyarzabal as a perfect replacement for Sane, who is due to return in February from a serious knee injury and join Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
Sane was very close to joining the German giants in the summer transfer window, but the deal broke down after the winger got injured. Also, Sane has refused to extend his contract and City would be willing to listen to any offers for the German.
Meanwhile, City boss has said that he wouldn’t keep any player that doesn’t want to be at the club. It was learned that Guardiola was refering to Sane and Nicolas Otamendi’s predicament at the club.
Man City to activate Oyarzabal’s €75m release clause
City are considering activating Oyarzabal’s €75m release clause and Guardiola is confident that the fee would not be a problem for the club. The manager added that the club would also be able to raise the money by selling Sané to Bayern.
Oyarzabal has started all of Sociedad’s matches in La Liga this season and the Spaniard has made 145 league appearances for his team, scoring 37 goals throughout that period. He has also been capped by the Spain national team on six occasions, scoring his first goal during a Euro 2020 qualifier against Sweden last month.
It is understood that City have reached their maximum number of foreign players allowed in their squad. This means that they would need to sell some players or bring in home-grown players in order not to run foul of the policy.
