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Leroy Sane has snubbed Pep Guardiola’s preferred surgeon and chosen a different specialist to perform his knee operation this weekend.

Sane, who suffered anterior cruciate knee ligament damage in City’s Community Shield win over Liverpool a fortnight ago, was due to undergo surgery at the hands of Barcelona-based specialist Dr Ramon Cugat.

Cugat has operated on several City players, including Benjamin Mendy and Ilkay Gundogan, as well as helping Vincent Kompany, John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne.

But Sane has instead decided to allow Professor Christian Fink, based in Innsbruck, Austria, to perform the knee surgery this weekend, rather than Dr Cugat, who has worked with Guardiola for more than a decade.

(Image: Getty Images)

When asked if Sane still planned to undergo surgery in Barcelona , with Dr Cugat, Guardiola replied: “I cannot answer that question. I don’t know.”

City later confirmed Sane’s decision to opt for surgery by Professor Fink, who works with the Germany national team, and has also recently treated Bayern Munich’s £75million new signing Lucas Hernandez.

Sane’s decision to snub Guardiola’s surgeon of choice is interesting, given the uncertainty surrounding the winger’s future, with Bayern keen to sign him from City, although the severity of his injury and length of recovery time has scuppered any deal this summer.

(Image: Getty Images)

City are adamant Sane is not for sale, and would only entertain the prospect of a deal if Bayern or any potential buyer would stump up £145m for the winger, who joined them from Schalke for £37m in 2016.

The official line from City is that it was a personal decision from Sane to go with Professor Fink for his surgery, with the club insisting they still have faith in Dr Cugat and are comfortable with the player’s choice of surgeon.