"With Leroy, we always had this issue. I told him, 'If I had your talent, I'd be Messi.' He just looked at me with big eyes. He didn't really know what to say. So I told him, just go out and show it. And that's what it's about - reaching a player like that and making him capable of performing."
"He is able to help me with things because he knows how Messi plays, how he trains because he saw him every day. And that's why he tries to help me -- to give me the confidence to say, 'Yes, try this -- try maybe to do it like this, like Messi does or Neymar does.'"
Oliver Kahn, former Bayern Munich CEO, employed Lionel Messi as a motivational reference point for Leroy Sane during their time together at the club. Kahn identified inconsistency as Sane's primary weakness and told him that with his talent level, he could achieve Messi-like status if he performed consistently. Sane was visibly surprised by this comparison. Pep Guardiola similarly used Messi as a benchmark when Sane played at Manchester City, helping the winger understand elite-level training and playing methods. Sane acknowledged feeling intimidated early in his City career but benefited from Guardiola's guidance in studying Messi's and Neymar's techniques to improve his own performance.
Read at Sportskeeda
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