Sadio Mane excited to play alongside ‘world’s best athlete’
Sadio Mane excited to play alongside ‘world’s best athlete‘
Senegalese forward Sadio Mane has expressed his excitement after joining Al Nassr in the Saudi league.
The 31- year old left Bayern Munich after a single season with the German champion in which he struggled for goals, was ruled out of the World Cup with injury, and was briefly suspended by the club.
Mane revealed in an interview that he turned down the prospect of joining former Liverpool team-mates Roberto Firmino and Fabinho at Al Ahli and Al-Ittihad respectively.
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“I spoke with (Roberto) Firmino for sure. He wanted me to come to the wrong club! I’m joking! He called me two or three times to convince me to come to Al Ahli because I had contact with them from the beginning. But, in this time when Al Nassr come then I chose Al Nassr,” said Mane.
“Of course, (Jordan) Henderson is also here. He sent me a message two days ago to wish me good luck with my team and I’m really, really excited to meet all of these great guys and also out on the pitch to face each other for the first time and hopefully I am going to win against you guys!”
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Just like Ronaldo, Mane said he wants to make sure the Saudi League becomes one of the best in the world.
“Really, really happy to be part of this project and to make sure this league becomes one of the best, for sure. I think if you see how they work on it and how they are doing their best to bring all these great players, I think you can see how ambitious they are,” mane said
Asides Ronaldo, Mane will play alongside former Manchester United defender Alex Telles, midfielder Marcelo Brozović, who captained runner-up Inter Milan in this year’s Champions League final, and the Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina.