Guardiola wants me to play ‘like Messi or Neymar’ – Sane

Manchester City’s Leroy Sane has told The Telegraph that Pep Guardiola wants him to play like Barcelona duo Lionel Messi and Neymar.

Sane, 21, joined City from Schalke on a five-year deal last summer for a fee that could eventually rise to £46.5 million.

The Germany international made a slow start to life in the Premier League but has developed into an important part of City’s side in recent months and he puts that down to the faith Guardiola has shown in him.

“He is able to help me with things because he knows how Messi plays, how he trains because he saw him every day,” Sane said.

“And that’s why he tries to help me — to give me the confidence to say, ‘Yes, try this — try maybe to do it like this, like Messi does or Neymar does.'”

Sane added that he didn’t have the belief to play for City upon his arrival at the club, but Guardiola encouraged him to perform with freedom as that is what made him sign him in the first place.

“I was young and maybe when I played against bigger clubs at the beginning here I was thinking, ‘OK, they are better than me,'” Sane said.

“Maybe I was a bit scared also, because I was with a new team in a new country and you don’t know anything about the league.

“But then at the end Pep told me: ‘Play how you played at Schalke because you were free there.’

“The other players are all normal human beings so just play your best and play free.”