Sane insists Guardiola made him a better player

Leroy Sane has admitted that playing four years under Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola helped him improve all aspects of his game.

Sane swapped Manchester City for the Bundesliga juggernaut Bayern Munich in a £55million deal earlier in the summer.

A long-standing saga that had seen the German winger forcing his way back to his homeland ended in July.

But, the 24-year-old, who came through the ranks at Schalke 04, rose to prominence at the Etihad.

It was Pep Guardiola who helped shape Sane’s potential, making him one of the most highly-rated wingers in Europe’s top-five leagues.

During his four-year stint under the Spanish visionary, the lightning-quick forward lifted seven domestic trophies, including two Premier League crowns.

Now, the new Bayern Munich star has paid tribute to everything Guardiola did to improve him as a player.

“In the positional play, in the general perception of the entire game, in tactical behavior both offensively and defensively – Guardiola downright reprogrammed me,” he told German outlet Kicker.

“It’s the simple movements that make you think, “Oh, never.” But when you implement them, you realize very quickly that Guardiola is right.

“What he advises helps a lot – it makes the game easier and faster. Tactics are the most important thing to him.”

Sane was close to joining perennial Bundesliga champions last summer, but Manchester City refused to drop their £130million valuation at the time.

The deal went through a year later, with the Premier League heavyweights receiving less than half of that figure after failing to persuade the German to pledge his long-term future to the club.