Michael Ballack was reported to say that Sane would make a good Pep style left back. Well, if Navas can do it, Sane will do it in his sleep..food for thought
Meanwhile, I salute the comeback kid, our very own Captain Fantastic, Mr Vincent Kompany..
...and I was reported to say that MB (whom I respected as a player) is talking BS: Jesus, a fantastic winger at his prime, has his best days behind him. Pretty much one-dimentional in his game now, with a predictable dribbling routine et etc etc. But he epitomises professionalism, he is determined to fight for his place in the team -which shows on the pitch. I am happy for him and will have no problem if it proves out to be he still has a future with City as a squad player next season...
On the other hand, performing as a winger, Sane IS already a key player for City, even though he's nowhere close being a complete player yet. His impact is fantastic even though the odds were against such an early development, given his age and personality. Credit to Guardiola for his patience, treating him so carefully, being a father figure to him. But while already being extremely competent, we clearly haven't explored the whole variety of elements in his game. He needs to improve in certain areas, he definitely needs to mature mentally too -which will not be a linear process (it never is actually). He oftens loses concentration during matches which influences his sharpness, decision making, determination, tactical behaviour (forgetting to follow his wing back, for example, etc). You need a sense of responsibility as a left back, you need defensive discipline, defensive skills, positional awareness, being 100% alert and focused throughout 90', a fighting spirit and determination to win (at least not lose...) individual battles, and so on. There's no reason forcing a player to become something out of his nature. Leroy's potential as a forward (his position out wide being simply his initial tactical reference) seems unlimited, therefore we should keep supporting the boy, being patient, providing him all the information and advice needed so that he improves, gets better and better...
It only shows you once again that only a very small percentage of people playing the game actually have a decent understanding of its tactical realities. It doesn't matter how good they were / are, it's irrelevant. An even smaller percentage will become managers after retiring, and an even smaller one will actually succeed in that profession. A statistic that will never change due to the complexity of the game (which means "decent" punditry is a lost battle by the way...).