Leroy Sane believes Manchester City teammate Kevin De Bruyne has every chance of winning the Ballon d’Or this year.
The Belgian has been in stunning form for Pep Guardiola’s side during the 2017/18 season, with his manager already stating that if the midfielder can keep up his level of performance then he could be the one to end Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s duopoly.
Sane has been one of the players to benefit from De Bruyne’s creativity in midfield this season, and the 22-year-old says he’s regularly amazed by the quality of his teammate.
“For me he’s a really special player, an unbelievable player with the way he plays, how he shoots and how he passes the ball, it’s really nice to see it,” Sane told Sport360 in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Leroy Sane says Kevin De Bruyne amazes him even in training.
“Even in the games in training sessions, sometimes I’m like ‘how did he pass the ball right now, how did he do that?’. He has a really good chance to do it (win the Ballon d’Or) and I hope he will do it.”
Sane himself will be in the running for the Premier League’s Young Player of the Season, having played a key role in Manchester City’s stunning campaign, with eight goals and 11 assists to his name so far in the league.
But the 22-year-old is not worried about individual honours at this stage of his career.
“To be honest, I haven’t thought about it at all. I’m not right now looking to win something for my own, not at all,” he said.
“In another interview they were always like ‘are you thinking of the Ballon d’Or?’. I think this is way too early, especially for a trophy like this. It would be nice for me if I can reach it (Young Player of the Year), but I’m not looking at all for me right now to win something especially for me.”