Football news - Is Leroy Sane the missing piece to steer Bayern Munich to European greatness?

How do you better perfection? Four wins from four, scoring 13 goals in the process, represents as impressive a return to action as anyone at Bayern could have been hoped for following the enforced break due to the coronavirus pandemic, but bettering themselves is something the very best never stop striving to do.

This was supposed to be the year Bayern's Bundesliga title-winning streak came to an end - they were seventh in December - but their resurgence under Hansi Flick to top the table by 10 points has been breathless, with the Bavarian giants looking as strong as they have for many years.

As they close on their eighth-straight league title, European success has not been as forthcoming, with Bayern having won only one Champions League crown - in 2013 - as they dominated domestically. As a result, targets have been already lined up to add to their squad in the summer. Bayern look set to come back in for the Manchester City forward Sane having missed out on his signature last year after he picked up a knee ligament injury in the Community Shield against Liverpool, four days before the transfer window closed, ruling him out long term.

Does a strikeforce need adding to that is in such red-hot form? Goals are hardly a concern when you have Europe's best No 9 in Robert Lewandowski leading the line, but there is in fact one area of the frontline that is not as perfect as the man through the middle.

While Spurs slayer Serge Gnabry has come on leaps and bounds in recent times on one flank of the front three, contributing to 21 league goals while scoring six on the continent this season, the other side of the strikeforce looks far more unsettled.

Philippe Coutinho has impressed on the left of the front three on occasion, but naturally is more suited to a central role. Kingsley Coman possesses all the natural ability but his output of two league goals all season is not enough for a team wanting to be the very best, while Ivan Perisic has similarly struggled to make a lasting impression while on loan from Inter Milan.

Leverkusen's wonderkid Kai Havertz is another reported top target, but it is Sane who adds that wide option Bayern seem to be craving.

"When I think that we managed to extend with Manuel Neuer, and we have Joshua Kimmich, Niklas Sule, Robert Lewandowski and hopefully David Alaba and Thiago Alcantara [also agreeing contracts], and I also hope with Leroy Sane, with [Kingsley] Coman, [Serge] Gnabry, we will have a young, developable team," former Bayern president Uli Hoeness told BR.

"We would certainly like to have Kai Havertz, but at the moment, one does not know exactly what the economic future of all football is. I would like to see him in Munich from a sporting perspective, but as of today I honestly cannot imagine it."

Not everyone is quite so enamoured with Sane, however.

“He doesn’t correspond at all to Bayern in terms of his character,” former Bayern defender Willy Sagnol told RMC of Sane. “He’s someone whose form is very inconsistent and who is very withdrawn. For me, he doesn’t suit the club at all. He’s had a lot of problems at Manchester City and with the national team.”

Only five players made more assists than Sane in the Premier League in 2018/19, despite only starting 21 league games, with his 10 league goals also an impressive return in a Manchester City team with plenty of competition for goals.

Having not played at all this season, how Sane recovers from such a major injury remains to be seen, and he clearly has not won everyone over. But another productive wide forward to support Gnabry is the one position this near-perfect Bayern side is missing and Sane, should he hit top form again, could be that missing piece to the Bayern puzzle.