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Manchester City: Leroy Sané deserves his PFA Young PotY award

By Mahith Gamage

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 14: Leroy Sane of Manchester City celebrates after scoring the first Manchester City goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield on January 14, 2018 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 14: Leroy Sane of Manchester City celebrates after scoring the first Manchester City goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield on January 14, 2018 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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Leroy Sané picked up the PFA Young Player of the Year award this week.

It’s been a year of maturity for Manchester City’s Leroy Sané. His first season in English football, 2016-17, wasn’t particularly spectacular, but he showed glimpses of his massive potential at times. This potential was on full display this season, however.

Sané claimed the PFA Young Player of the Year award on April 22nd, and was the front-runner for the award nearly all season. His current contribution of 9 goals and 12 assists isn’t perhaps as flashy as the stats of Raheem Sterling or Sergio Aguero, but it’s still an impressive total that deserves to be celebrated.

It’s a real tribute to how fantastic Sané has been all season, when some of his fellow nominees for YPotY finished with far more goals than he did. Yet, even with Kane having 26 goals and Sterling having 18, Sané was favourite to win the award all year long.

https://twitter.com/ftbIdan/status/988179221162921985

Sané has improved the tactical and intelligent side of his game under Pep Guardiola’s tutelage.

The one difference Sané is showing from previous seasons is a clear improvement in his intelligence on the pitch. Working under Pep Guardiola has turned his brain into a constant working cog, which is so evident when watching his movements on-and-off the ball.

He seems to have a near-telepathic understanding with David Silva, and their movements in the left-half space have been crucial to Manchester City’s success all season.

https://twitter.com/LeroySane19/status/985575207275556864

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His influence on the game is nearly unmatched at Manchester City, apart from their dual-engine of De Bruyne and David Silva, who dictate much of the play. Sané has been used not necessarily as a wide outlet, but someone who can make the penetrative runs to the touchline and stretch the opposition defence. It has worked to devastating effect all season.

The young German’s performances have turned him into one of the Premier League’s best players, and it’s now time for him to take the next step in his career and contribute towards success at the International and European levels. Sané will have the chance to do exactly that with Germany and Manchester City over the years, and both will likely keep him around as a key cog in their respective teams.

£37 million is all it cost Manchester City to obtain the services of Sané in 2016. This could easily be seen as one of the most effective transfers in recent history. His value is well above £100 million less than 2 years after the transfer, and this PFA Young Player of the Year award is just the start for Sané. He is quite clearly destined for even more.

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