Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick believes Leroy Sane needs more time to establish himself with the Bundesliga champions.
Since joining Bayern from Manchester City for a reported €45million in July, Sane has scored three goals and provided three assists in seven Bundesliga games, three of which have been starts.
He has also created four big chances, with only Thomas Muller (six) and Serge Gnabry (five) creating more for Bayern.
His big chance conversion percentage is 50 per cent, while he has completed just 38.1 per cent of his attempted dribbles.
The attacker missed almost the entire 2019-20 season with City after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and suffered a knee injury against Hoffenheim at the end of September.
Flick has largely been impressed with Sane s contribution but believes there is plenty more to come once he has settled at the club.
Arjen. Robben.
4-4, last minute of stoppage time, and does this. Watch and enjoy from every angle
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN)
You have to consider the background, Flick told a media conference ahead of Bayern s top-of-the-table clash with RB Leipzig on Saturday.
He had a serious injury and was injured again in the Hoffenheim game. I know from my own experience that you need some time.
What I see in training is good. It s not that easy when you come to a new club; you have to integrate first. At the moment we can t train like we did in pre-season.
Bayern are two points clear of Leipzig at the Bundesliga summit and will hope to improve on their recent record against Julian Nagelsmann s side when they visit the Allianz Arena on Saturday.
Bayern won their first three meetings with Leipzig but have triumphed only once in their last five matches. Indeed, since 2017-18, only Hertha Berlin (four times in seven games) have picked up points in as many games against Bayern as Leipzig (four times in six games).
Leipzig are also the only team to stop the Bavarian giants from scoring in their last 70 Bundesliga matches, holding them to 0-0 draws in May 2019 and February 2020.
And Flick is in no doubt his side are in for a tough game against Nagelsmann s forward-thinking outfit.
Leipzig have developed tremendously, the Bayern boss said. Even before I was at Hoffenheim, I knew that Julian was a top coach.
at its brilliant best
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN)
Leipzig plays forward very quickly and are very variable. The idea of their football appeals to me and I value Julian as a coach. That s why Leipzig are where they are.
Alphonso Davies returned to full training this week after six weeks out with ankle ligament damage, while Joshua Kimmich stepped up his own personal fitness programme following surgery on a right lateral meniscus injury.
Saturday s game will come too soon for them, but Flick holds out hope Davies could make an appearance in Wednesday s final Champions League Group A game against Lokomotiv Moscow.
Alphonso has trained, but is not yet ready for tomorrow, Flick said. Maybe he will be back on Wednesday.
Otherwise, except for Coco Tolisso and Joshua Kimmich, everyone is on board. That is a good sign, especially in the current situation.
