Leroy Sane the perfect Mohamed Salah replacement? Why Liverpool are being linked with Bayern Munich winger

Liverpool know all about how dangerous Sane can be. During his time at Manchester City, he scored four times against the Reds, whom he consigned to their only defeat during the 2018-19 Premier League campaign - which, of course, played a pivotal role in the outcome of one of the greatest and most closely fought title races in history.

However, the fans will also remember that by the time of that epic encounter at the Etihad, Sane was no longer a certain starter. He may have scored a career-high 16 goals that season, but speculation was already mounting that Sane wanted out.

Guardiola certainly did little to hide the fact that he was no longer entirely happy with the 2017-18 PFA Young Player of the Year. The issue was Sane's work-rate. Guardiola felt the youngster wasn't fulfilling his defensive duties when City were out of possession and admitted that he was frustrated by Sane's famously laid-back attitude as he believed it was holding the forward back.

"I am so demanding of him and sometimes I like to be critical of him," the Catalan coach confessed to reporters in April 2019. "We know his potential and we want to help him to be more consistent in his game."

Guardiola failed in that regard, though, with Sane belatedly completing a transfer to Bayern in 2020 after the deal had been held up by a serious knee injury sustained in a Community Shield clash with Liverpool the year before.

The change of scenery did little to remove the doubts surrounding Sane. If anything, they increased because many in Munich felt that the attacker simply wasn't right for Bayern; that he lacked the doggedness, determination and winning mentality demanded at the Allianz Arena.

Sane continued to score goals, hitting double figures in all competitions in each of his first three seasons at the club, but sparkled only sporadically.

When he first arrived, he spoke enthusiastically about playing under Hansi Flick, whom he first came across while playing for Germany's Under-21s. However, it later emerged that Flick had actually been pushing for the Bavarians to sign Timo Werner instead. This, then, was a deal very much of Hasan Salihamidzic's doing, as even Sane had admitted himself, explaining that the sporting director had been "behind the transfer from the first moment".

In that context, it's perhaps unsurprising that Sane struggled. Flick regularly questioned his work ethic and rarely gave him a full 90 minutes.

The arrival of Julian Nagelsmann looked like the turning point in Sane's spell at the Allianz Arena, with the new, young coach giving him an inside-left role, which he relished, as he was part-winger, part-No.10. Indeed, during the first half of the 2021-22 season, Sane looked perfectly primed to become a bona fide superstar, netting 10 times before the winter break, with half of those goals coming during an electrifying Champions League group-stage campaign.

However, as he admitted himself, Bayern's season then screeched to a standstill and they were sensationally dumped out of Europe by Villarreal. Many pundits blamed Nagelsmann's decision to change formation, from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-3 that saw Sane moved back to the right, where his output dipped dramatically. He would score just four goals after Christmas and looked a shadow of his former self.

His frustration was obvious, too, and the fans became enraged by his air of resignation. Talk of a move away from Munich only intensified as Nagelsmann's reign unravelled earlier this year. The word was that Bayern were open to offers for their €60 million (£52m/$63m) signing.

It wasn't initially clear if Thomas Tuchel taking over from Nagelsmann, who was sensationally sacked in March, was a positive or negative development for Sane. The former Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain coach has a reputation for asking a lot of his forwards from a defensive perspective, but at the same time, he managed to get something approaching the very best out of enigmatic characters like Neymar and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Tuchel also primarily deployed Sane on the right during the first weeks of his tenure and there was no marked improvement in the winger's performances. However, behind the scenes, the pair were bonding.

Despite the ongoing transfer talk, Tuchel was adamant that Sane had a key role to play in his side. He was convinced that he was the right coach to extract the absolute maximum out of one of the game's great unfulfilled talents.

Putting Sane back on the left certainly helped, but it was clear that there was more to it than that. There was, as Tuchel put it, "good chemistry" between the pair, so when he challenged Sane to dominate the Bundesliga, the winger obliged.

He's already well on his way towards obliterating his previous best goals tally for a single season (eight), having struck six times in seven outings in 2023-24, and Tuchel enthused after the 3-0 win over Freiburg just before the international break, "If he continues to play with that kind of freedom, hunger and positive body language, he can make the difference.”

As for Sane, he's in no doubt that Tuchel is not only "the right person for Bayern" - but also him as a player. "I talk to him a lot," he recently admitted. "He gives me a very good feeling and I feel a lot of trust."

However, while it's clear that Sane has benefited enormously not only from Tuchel's management but also his tactical propensity for allowing Bayern to sit deeper, leaving more space in behind opposition defences for the team's pacier players to exploit, there is no denying that summer arrival of Harry Kane has also been key to the sudden return to form.

As a fluent English-speaker, Sane has played an important part in the former Tottenham striker's integration into the Bayern dressing room and the pair have reportedly struck up a good friendship. However, they're also getting on great on the field. Kane is one of the most intelligent and mobile forwards in the game today and his movement is a godsend for Sane, given the England international often drags centre-backs out of the middle and towards the flanks, offering his fellow forwards unguarded areas to attack.

"For our style of play it’s important that we have a real No. 9, but Harry also drops deep so that we can rotate well," Sane recently pointed out. "I love moving from attacking midfield up front with pace - it’s worked well with Harry a few times and with more games and training sessions it can definitely get better."

The net result is Sane enjoying arguably the most effective spell of his career to date. It's not just that he is combining well with Kane. Or scoring far more frequently than ever before. Or playing with a newfound level of application.

He's also rediscovered the joy in his game and is now skipping past players with the same swagger as the Sane of 2017-18. Indeed, right now, there is no more devastating dribbler at the very highest level of the game, with the 27-year-old having completed a whopping 45 dribbles so far this season - 12 more than his closest challenger.

"It's impressive to see how he's able to consistently deliver strong performances," Joshua Kimmich said. "It's a fitting reward for all the hard work he puts in. You can tell he's having fun out there, and it has an impact on the rest of us as well."

But is Sane the right man to replace Salah at Liverpool, who are said to be willing to break their transfer record to sign Sane next summer, when he will have just one year left on his Bayern contract?

There are also obviously some concerns related to the way in which his City career went off the rails before enduring similar struggles for the majority of his time in Munich. However, the word at Bayern is that Sane has matured, that he is now perfectly poised to belatedly realise his potential in his peak years. He always had the talent, now it seems he's got the requisite temperament too. His defensive diligence has improved to such an extent that one can now see him thriving under Klopp.

Obviously, there are tactical considerations, too, given Sane clearly requires a freer role. He can't be pinned down to one flank. At Bayern, he regularly switches wings with Kingsley Coman, while at the same time drifting in central areas. But while Salah spends most of his time on the right, it's not as if he's tied to the touchline. He is allowed to roam, while it's also worth pointing out that Liverpool possess one of the most fluid forward lines in Europe, stacked with players capable of playing all across the pitch.

Ultimately, though, it will come down to Sane, and whether he achieves the level of consistency he's lacked for so long. If he does that, there's absolutely no reason why Liverpool shouldn't make him their primary transfer target.

The fans may still be dreaming of signing Kylian Mbappe, but the reality is that this version of Sane is even better suited to succeeding Salah at Anfield.