Manchester City

Sané keeping Manchester City waiting on contract offer, reveals Guardiola

• Forward has deal to 2021 and is wanted by Bayern Munich
• Mourinho not outdated, Guardiola claims before Spurs game

Pep Guardiola has revealed Leroy Sané is yet to respond to a longstanding contract offer from Manchester City. The forward is nearing a return from a serious knee injury that has kept him out all season. Sané’s deal expires in June 2021 and Bayern Munich retain a firm interest in him.

Guardiola said: “The last info I had was that we made him an offer a long time ago and all the time he didn’t reject it, so after that I don’t have any news.”

Sané is thought to have received the new offer last summer. Guardiola was asked when the German may be available again. “He needs a little bit more time, I think,” City’s manager said. “But we will see. Now it’s a bit like Aymeric Laporte – he started training before the first game against Sheffield [United], two or three weeks ago, so he needs time.”

Laporte, who also had a serious knee problem, has missed the past two games as Guardiola carefully manages the centre-back’s return. Despite Laporte’s long absence and Vincent Kompany’s departure in the summer Guardiola said he did not consider recalling the centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo from a season’s loan at Blackburn Rovers.

City play at Tottenham on Sunday and Guardiola has denied José Mourinho is an outdated manager, before facing him for first time since the Portuguese was sacked by Manchester United in December 2018. Mourinho has not claimed a league title since the 2014-15 season with Chelsea but did win the Europa League and Carabao Cup at United and took them to a second-place finish in one of his two full seasons in charge. Mourinho has won championships in four different countries and two European Cups.

“The value of José, a manager with all that experience, is not one season,” Guardiola said. “You look at his career, 15 or 20 years – he’s been there all the time [at the top] and that must be respected.

“It’s the most difficult thing to be there all the time. When you win a lot of titles and then don’t, people think it’s not good. In sport you lose more than you win. Michael Jordan won six NBA titles [but] lost more than he won but was the greatest athlete I saw.”

The City defender Angelino has joined RB Leipzig on loan for the rest of the season.