Sadio Mane has left Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich for Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr – becoming the latest high-profile footballer to ditch Europe for Saudi Arabia
Sadio Mane’s first league game for Al-Nassr will be against Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq.
Mane, 31, completed his transfer to Al-Nassr on Tuesday – just a year after leaving Liverpool for Bayern Munich. The Senegal international will play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia, with the new Pro League campaign starting later this month.
Mane’s move to Al-Nassr marks a stunning decline for the Ballon d’Or runner-up, who’s gone from being one of the Premier League’s standout players to a Saudi mercenary in the space of just over a year. Perhaps Mane should’ve listened to Gerrard, who advised him to stay at Liverpool after their 2022 Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid.
Yet Gerrard’s career has also gone in the wrong direction. The Liverpool legend was the manager of Aston Villa when he gave Mane the advice, but he’s since taken a pay day in Saudi Arabia after receiving the boot from his Premier League employers.