Former Liverpool ace and Premier League champion Sadio Mane is proving that he is still a ‘world star’ during a terrific start to life at Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
When Sadio Mane joined Bayern Munich on a long-term contract in the summer of 2022, it’s hard to imagine he would have expected to be packing his bags and heading off to the Middle East under a cloud 12 months later.
Mane was little short of a disaster at the Allianz Arena. But while the standards are not quite so high in Saudi Arabia – despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s claims to the contrary – a tally of seven goals in 12 games for Al-Nassr feels like a ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’ sort of return. The one-time Liverpool superstar a man reborn and revitalised.
Former Liverpool star Sadio Mane shining in Saudi Arabia
“We are very happy that Mane is here with us,” Al-Nassr’s sporting director Marcelo Salazar tells Philipp Kessler.
“Mane is a world star. A fantastic footballer. And if things didn’t go as expected at FC Bayern, there are reasons for it. You have to ask yourself why Mane couldn’t show his best level at the club. And the player has to do this too.
“There are always two sides (to every story).”
Mane struggled in a Bayern frontline in transition following the sale of Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona, his influence limited in an ill-fitting number nine role. That much-discussed off-pitch fall-out with former Bayern team-mate Leroy Sane, meanwhile, was very much the beginning of the end for him in Bavaria (Daily Mail).
‘A fantastic player’
Now sharing a dressing room with Seko Fofana, Alex Telles, Otavio, Aymeric Laporte, Marcelo Brozovic and the aforementioned Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, Mane is certainly making up for lost time these days.
“The most important thing is that Sadio is with us,” Salazar adds. “And we are very happy with him. He’s a fantastic player, a fantastic person and very easy going.”
“He is happy. On the first day he came with a big smile. And we see that big smile every day in training and at games. He has accepted the new challenge. He seems happy. He’s a guy who smiles a lot.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
