The trip to Germany did not go according to plan.

Now we can talk about it with confidence: the sunset is coming in the career of Sadio Mane. The winger spent the season following his move to Bayern well below his level. But the unsatisfactory assessment of the 31-year-old Senegalese’s performance is given publicly by Monaco manager Thomas Tuchel – and this is already a sign that the last bridges between the club and the player are being burned. Now the main option is a football pension in Saudi Arabia.

I didn’t want to be in the shadows

Liverpool were Sadio’s safe bet when he picked a club last summer. The footballer was associated with the “reds” for 6 impressive seasons – during this time he reached the final of the Champions League and lost to Real Madrid, then chased with Manchester City for the championship in Premier League and beat Tottenham Hotspur in a second consecutive final Champions League. He became the champion of England, lifted the national Cup and the League Cup over his head, and then in the next European Cup final he was again defeated by Real Madrid. There was no need to leave – at that time, Liverpool remained a reliable project that was supposed to continue the struggle for trophies.

Bayern is also a European giant who is fighting for victory Champions League. But you definitely can’t attribute such a deal to a promotion – in England everything has been tested for years, where Manet is guaranteed to show class from year to year. The decision to change the situation was most likely influenced by several factors at once. First of all, the financial side: Sadio arrived at Liverpool when he was 24 years old. Before that, he played for Metz, Red Bull, Southampton. But that Liverpool was not yet a serious force in England, and the salary of the Senegalese was not high. In the summer of 2022, the winger turned 30 – the age when there is the last chance to knock out a really fat contract. And here comes the second factor: Mane has remained in the shadow of Mohamed Salah. And if the Egyptian was always in sight, the “reds” tried to prolong it with all their might, then Manet probably did not feel such an attitude towards him.

The move to Bayern could have been an attempt to earn big money and become the first violinist, albeit in another team.

Wrong choice

The season at Bayern turned out to be extremely controversial – and this was partly influenced by the circumstances, but the responsibility should not be removed from the player either. Mane found himself in a completely different structure, and also without a striker: Lewandowski left for Barcelona that same summer and Nagelsmann could not find a working alternative. As a result, Sadio came out both in the center of the attack and on the left wing.

In the spring, this was overlaid by an unexpected head coaching change. Julian Nagelsmann’s resignation is still considered groundless: in the Bundesliga the Bavarians were in 1st place, in the league the champions were selected for the quarterfinals. And on the eve of the match with Manchester City it became known that the team will be led by Thomas Tuchel. In addition to internal contradictions, this led to a tie in the table: relegation from European competition and Borussia ahead (albeit temporarily).

All this was accompanied by personal conflicts. Mane just during the first match with the “citizens” got into an argument with teammate Leroy Sane, and in the locker room the players had a fight – Sadio broke the German’s lip, after which he was disqualified for the next match. Prior to that, it was reported that the Senegalese winger had a conflict with Nagelsmann – after the second leg with PSG he yelled at the German coach in front of the whole team because of the playing time.

Already at the end of the campaign, Tuchel summed up:

Sadio had an underwhelming season and failed to live up to the club’s expectations or his own. The competition for his position is very high. Kingsley Coman is very important to us, Serge Gnabry is back in shape and scores important goals. As a result, the situation turned out to be very difficult for Sadio. But we know each other’s opinions. He has a contract and we will ask him for the maximum. And then – let’s see, there are crazy things in football.

For now, it feels more like a goodbye approaching.

Become Ronaldo’s teammate

Unsurprisingly, the Bayern winger has attracted the attention of Saudi Arabian clubs – now the Sheikhs are rounding up the best players from the Middle East to increase the attractiveness of the league. Al-Ittifaq and Al-Ahli initially claimed Sadio. The former was recently spearheaded by Steven Gerrard: while the Liverpool legend and iconic footballer in modern day Reds history did not play for the Merseysiders at the same time, it would have been a wonderful reunion.

As for Al-Ahli, Roberto Firmino, part of Liverpool’s attacking trio with Mane and Salah, has already arrived there, so there was a “red” thread in this option.

But Al-Nasr turned out to be the fastest of all. According to the latest data, the 31-year-old Senegalese has already agreed to move to Saudi Arabia – before that, Bayern informed the winger that they were not counting on him next season. From the transaction, Monaco wants to earn 32 million euros plus bonuses.

It is still too early for Mane to leave Europe to retire from football – he could well spend another couple of seasons at a top level. But Al-Nasr is also a good option. The level of the championship of Saudi Arabia after such a high-profile transfer campaign will rise significantly, five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo will play in the same club with the Senegalese. And the economic terms of the winger’s contract will certainly be the fattest of his career.