Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City winger Leroy Sane must continue to develop his precocious talent if his is to reach the rarefied levels of Manchester United great Ryan Giggs.
Sane scooped the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Young Player of the Year award last weekend after helping City to glory in the Premier League and Carabao Cup.
The 22-year-old Germany international has scored 13 goals and supplied 16 assists in all competitions, but Guardiola was keen to temper talk of his fast-paced style being similar to that of Giggs during earlier stages of the Wales manager's playing career at Old Trafford.
"It's too early [to compare them]. Of course, they play on the left, they are quick and for the full backs it is not easy to face them," said the former Barcelona boss, whose champions travel to face West Ham on Sunday.
"But Ryan Giggs is a legend of world football, not just for Manchester United and English football.
"I think Leroy has a good target to try and emulate Ryan Giggs."
The only way is up for @LeroySane19 and @Sterling7! #mancity pic.twitter.com/h65KeLjynM
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 27, 2018
Mohamed Salah won the main PFA prize ahead of City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Guardiola believes Sane and team-mate Raheem Sterling have the capacity to improve towards the goal-laden return the Liverpool star has produced from a wide-attacking role this term.
"I think the most important thing from Leroy this season is his consistency during the games," he said.
"One guy or two guys can play good for a short period but he was doing excellently for a long period.
"His quality speaks for itself and Leroy, as we have said before with Sterling, you have a feeling he has space to be a better player."
Guardiola added: "It depends on them, Leroy and Raz, to be better in every training session with the basics and understand the game.
"Both of them have huge potential. We cannot forget they are 22 and 23 years old. They are so young."
