Manchester City Confirm Leroy Sane's Return to Training After Knee Injury

Manchester City have confirmed that Leroy Sane has returned to full training after being sidelined since August with a knee injury:

Sane suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage in the 2019 Community Shield against Liverpool at Wembley Stadium and subsequently underwent surgery.

He was back in training with Manchester City on Tuesday as the team were put through their paces ahead of Wednesday's Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Manchester United.

Yet manager Pep Guardiola may have to wait to hand Sane his first competitive appearance of the season, as he is not expected to return to first-team action for at least a couple of weeks, according to Stuart Brennan at the Manchester Evening News.

Sane's return is still a boost for Manchester City for the second half of the season. The German is a dangerous attacker who has already enjoyed great success at the club since joining from Schalke in 2016:

Manchester City's hopes of retaining their Premier League title look over, as they are a distant 16 points behind Liverpool and have played a game extra, but they remain in contention in the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League.

Sane's return to fitness may also reignite interest in his services from Bayern Munich. The German champions were reportedly interested in signing him last summer before he suffered his knee injury.

Bayern's chief executive officer Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has refused to rule out a move for Sane when talking to German journalist Manuel Bonke (h/t the Mirror's Alex Smith).

He said: "If we are still interested in principle, which I do not rule out, we will first talk to the club in order to create a friendly atmosphere of conversation."

Sane's time at Manchester City has not always been smooth. He has been dropped from the starting XI at times by Guardiola, raising doubts over his long-term future at the club.