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Bayern Munich have signed Leroy Sané from Manchester City. £54.8m fee

Bayern Munich has ended a long pursuit and finally signed Germany winger Leroy Sane from Manchester City.

The Bavarian powerhouse said Friday that the 24-year-old former Schalke player has signed a five-year deal through June 2025 and will start preparing for the upcoming season next week.

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says, “He is an outstanding player who has proven his qualities over the past few years, especially in the national team. Our goal is to gather the best German players at FC Bayern and the signing of Leroy emphasizes this goal.”

City was already resigned to losing the pacey forward, who had one year left on his contract with the Premier League side. Coach Pep Guardiola said Sane had rejected “two or three” offers to extend his contract.

Bayern is reportedly paying 50 million euros ($56.3 million) for the player, less than half what the club expected to pay last year before he sustained a serious knee ligament injury in the Community Shield against Liverpool on Aug. 4. The injury put a hold on the move and Sane only returned for City as a late substitute against Burnley on June 22. It was his only league appearance since the injury.

Sane is Bayern’s third reinforcement for the new season after the free transfers of goalkeeper Alexander Nubel from league rival Schalke and 18-year-old defender Tanguy Nianzou Kouassi from Paris Saint-Germain.

Sane has five goals in 21 appearances for Germany since making his debut in 2015.

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I’M COMING HOME: ARJEN ROBBEN ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT U-TURN

Dutch winger Arjen Robben is preparing to come out of retirement at his formative club Groningen, he announced on Saturday.

After leaving Groningen in 2002, Robben won league titles with PSV Eindhoven, Chelsea and Real Madrid before a hugely successful decade with Bayern Munich.

He retired from Bayern a year ago at the age of 35, having helped the club to eight Bundesliga titles as well as the 2013 Champions League.

The 2010 World Cup finalist said he was fully motivated to return but that he had to get fit first.

“I want to make my comeback at FC Groningen. At this time I’m not sure it will happen,” Robben said in a video on the Groningen website.

“What I am sure of is that my motivation will be at 100 percent. I’m going to go for it and I will be at the first training session for the new season.

“Because my dream is to play in an FC Groningen jersey, we’re not there yet, but you can always dream.

“I was 12 when I joined the Groningen youth academy, and made my debut for them at 16 against PSV,” said Robben, who explained that a banner he saw at Groningen’s stadium had resonated strongly with him.

“‘Arjen follow your heart’, it said, so after a wonderful adventure of 18 years, I’m coming home.”

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LEWANDOWSKI BREAKS BUNDESLIGA GOAL RECORD IN FREIBURG BASHING.

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski broke an existing BundesLiga record on Saturday with a double against Freiburg, seeing him surpass Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s previous best for the most goals scored by a non-German player in a Bundesliga season.

The Polish international helped Bayern, already crowned champion for the eighth straight season, to a 3-1 victory in its penultimate match of the league campaign.

Lewandowski has grabbed 33 goals in just 30 Bundesliga matches this campaign, both his latest coming in the first half at the Allianz Arena as Bayern secured a 3-1 advantage at the break. There was no further scoring in the second half.

Gabon star Aubameyang scored 31 in the 2016/17 season for Borussia Dortmund before he moved to his current club Arsenal in the English Premier League.

With just one round of matches remaining, Lewandowski is still short of the remarkable all-time record of 40 by the legendary Bayern Munich and German striker Gerd Mueller in the 1971-72 season.

But with 48 goals in 41 games in all competitions this season, Lewandowski has plenty of opportunities to improve his overall tally as Bayern is facing Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup final on July 4 before continuing its bid to win the Champions League which resumes in August.

Lewandowski is the top scorer in Europe’s elite competition this season with 11 goals in six games, his latest against Chelsea in the first leg of the last 16 clash which Bayern won 3-0 at Stamford Bridge back in February.

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Bayern Munich win eighth straight Bundesliga title

Bayern Munich win an 8th successive Bundesliga title, continuing a run that has been uninterrupted since 2013. This their 30th German title overall

Bayern Munich secured the 2019/20 Bundesliga title with two games to spare, beating Werder Bremen 1-0 with a goal from Robert Lewandowski on Tuesday night. This is the eighth successive title for the German giants, continuing their run which started from 2013.

Bayern’s 1-0 win put them 10 points clear of second-place Borussia Dortmund, who can earn a maximum nine points from their three remaining games.

Hansi Flick made four changes to his starting line-up after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Thomas Müller and Lewandowski returned to spearhead the attack, while Davies and Kingsley Coman were reinstated on the left side. Javi Martínez and Ivan Perišić both missed out due to illness.

Werder kept Bremen at bay for most of the first half but the champions still found a breakthrough.

Jerome Boateng played a perfectly weighted ball over the defence in the 43rd minute for Robert Lewandowski to control on his chest and hit past the goalkeeper for his 31st Bundesliga goal this season.

Bayern finished with 10 men after a second yellow card for Alphonso Davies in the 79th minute.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made a crucial late save to stop Yuya Osako’s header.

Bayern powered to their 30th German title with a perfect record of seven wins in the Bundesliga since it resumed last month in empty stadiums amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Hansi Flick has coached Bayern to 26 wins from 29 games in all competitions since he took over in November. Bayern are chasing a possible triple. They can add the German Cup if they beat Bayer Leverkusen in the July 4 final and are also in contention in the Champions League.

In the other half of the points table, last-placed Paderborn were relegated after losing 1-0 to Union Berlin.