Bayern Munich forward Sadio Mane is close to completing his move to Saudi club Al-Nassr, the reports emerged on Friday.
Al-Nassr — who signed Cristiano Ronaldo in January 2023 — have submitted an official bid of €37 million for the Senegal national after the German club showed interest in off-loading the 31-year-old.
Mane’s agent Bjorn Bezemer is in Japan, where both Bayern and Al-Nassr are to complete their pre-season tour, to negotiate with the German club and the talks are in advanced stages.
The deal is likely to happen as the €37 million offered to Bayern would be nearly impossible to refuse. The German club played the entire last season without a natural striker after selling Robert Lewandowski to FC Barcelona in 2022.
Mane was brought in from Liverpool for a €32 million fee to replicate the goal-scoring exploits of Lewandowski but the 31-year-old had an injury-ridden season where he did not start most of the games and the ones he did, he couldn’t perform on the required level.
The managerial instability and dressing room problems contributed to Mane’s demise with the German club.
However, one of the biggest factors in Mane’s departure from Germany may not be his inconsistent performances, scoring 12 goals in 38 matches, but his fight with teammate Leroy Sane in April.
Mane, 31, lashed out at his teammate, punching him in the face following a 3-0 defeat against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) in April.
The footballer was handed out a €500,000 fine and a one-game ban by the club’s management.
However, Mane had a legendary time with his former club Liverpool as he guided them to a UCL victory in 2018/19 as he was crucial throughout the campaign. He also won the Premier League (PL) with his former team in 2020 and was the top-scorer of the league with 22 goals in the 2018/19 season.
He has also been named the African Footballer of the Year in 2019 and 2022.
The 31-year-old currently holds the record for the fastest hat-trick in PL history which came within two minutes and 56 seconds in a 6-1 victory against Aston Villa in the 2014/15 season.