Leroy Sane’s move to Bayern Munich from Manchester City will ‘unfortunately’ bring the Bavarian side ‘a lot of joy’, according to his former Schalke teammate Joel Matip.

Sane ended a four-year association with Pep Guardiola’s side this summer following a protracted and well-documented saga that could well have been wrapped up last year had the attacker not suffered a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury in the Community Shield victory over Matip’s current club Liverpool.

Having had additional time to return to fitness during the coronavirus lockdown period, however, Sane’s wish for a new challenge finally came true as Bayern and City reached an agreement over a €60 million (£55m/$67m) transfer in July.

Sane is no stranger to Bundesliga football, having come up through the ranks at Schalke a few years after Matip and eventually sharing first-team duties with the centre-back, and his old friend has tipped the winger to make it even more difficult for the also-rans to catch up with Bayern.

‘He is a top player,’ Matip told German outlet Die Welt. ‘Unfortunately, he will give Bayern a lot of joy.’

Asked to explain his phrasing, the defender added: ‘Well, he won’t make it any easier for the competition, which already has a hard time keeping up with Bayern [in the Bundesliga]. Leroy is a player who can help a team enormously.’

During his time with City, Sane recorded an impressive 39 goals and 45 assists across 135 total appearances in all competitions, a contribution significantly worthy enough for the Germany international to inherit the No.10 shirt previously worn by club legend Arjen Robben.

And Sane, of course, revealed that he is ‘overjoyed’ to be training with his new club ahead of the 2020-21 season, having put his injury woes behind him to make one substitute appearance for City following the coronavirus-enforced lockdown prior to agreeing his transfer.

‘It was very good,’ he said of his first session with Hansi Flick’s outfit. ‘It was a small group for training, but it was great to be out on the pitch again, completing my first session here on the training ground.

‘I’m just overjoyed to be here.’