Pep Guardiola says contract talks with Leroy Sane are on track while adding that he expects him to stay at Manchester City for “many years”.
The Premier League champions have been in talks with the Germany international over a new deal for months, but are yet to reach an agreement with him.
The 22-year-old’s current deal runs until 2021 and, although negotiations seem to be taking some time, Guardiola is not worried about losing him.
“I don’t have any info from the club, saying we are in trouble [with Sane’s talks],” he told reporters.
“The process [takes time], you saw with Raheem Sterling, it does not take one day, except Kevin De Bruyne, I think it was done in one or two days, the other ones will sometimes take longer.
“But hopefully [Sane] can stay here for longer, for many, many years.”
Sane has five goals and assists from 12 appearances in the Premier League this season and remains a key part of Guardiola’s side.
But Guardiola believes the likes of the ex-Schalke star and fellow attacker Raheem Sterling can keep developing at City.
“It’s the same as with Raheem, I have the feeling he can do better,” he said. “In many, many things he can do better.
“I’m pretty sure becoming a father helps [to mature you]. I think Leroy had an incredible last season, he played a lot of games. He was our only left winger and he did incredible.
“But we will see I don’t like to say too many times to the players how good they are in the moment, the season is too long and we are just in December.”
City, who sit two points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table, face Watford on Tuesday before travelling to London to take on Chelsea on Saturday.
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