A year after his high-profile arrival at Bayern Munich, who bought him 30 million euros from Liverpool, Sadio Mané leaves the top German club, with whom he was under contract until June 2025. The transfer has been officially announced Monday, July 31 in the evening: the 31-year-old Senegalese, African champion with the Teranga Lions in 2022, will play the next two seasons at the Al-Nassr club, in Riyadh, alongside the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Leaving Bayern hurts me,” Sadio Mané told German media Sky Sport on the same day: “I would have liked a different ending. A spite shared by Munich coach Thomas Tuchel: “In this particular situation, it was the best solution to untie the knot,” he said from Singapore, where his team is to meet Liverpool in a friendly match.
In Saudi Arabia, the striker of the Senegal team will receive a salary of 40 million euros per year, double what he received in Germany, according to Sky Sport. Al-Nassr also paid Bayern a transfer fee of 28-30 million euros. The departure of Sadio Mané in the Persian Gulf follows those of other big names in world football playing in Europe, such as his compatriots Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy, the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, the French Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kanté or the Algerian Riyadh Mahrez.
“A choice above all financial”
Fully recovered from his knee injury in November 2022, which had deprived him of the World Cup in Qatar, Sadio Mané had ample capacity to continue his career in a major European club. But none have officially positioned themselves to welcome him, despite more or less real expressions of interest from Chelsea, Manchester United, Newcastle United (owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund) and Naples. “It is not necessarily surprising, notes a player agent on condition of anonymity. He is 31 years old, a huge salary in Germany, with a high transfer fee. Although he is a very great player, it represents a significant investment, even for a rich club. »
Even though the Saudi league is one of the best in Asia, there is little doubt that this transfer is motivated more by financial than sporting considerations. “Yes, maybe he could have stayed in Europe and played in a very good club, but his salary at Al-Nassr, he will have to justify it,” said former Cameroon international Patrick Mboma. He made a choice above all financial, he is a human being, he must be respected. And the departures of Sadio Mané, Karim Benzema or other stars will not prevent European football from doing well. »
Can the difference in level between the Bundesliga and the Saudi Pro League nevertheless weigh on the future performances of the champion, six months before the African Cup of Nations (CAN) in Côte d’Ivoire? Oumar Diallo, goalkeeper for the Teranga Lions from 1997 to 2004, does not believe it: “Sadio is a competitor, a real professional. Mentally, he will be much more liberated to be in a club where he feels good. He will not arrive at the CAN too physically worn out and the Saudi championship, with the players who join him, will gain in quality. He will be at the top in January. A wish shared by Aliou Cissé, the Senegalese coach, who saw three of his major players join Saudi Arabia in the space of a few weeks.
