Ahead of the new season, one Bayern Munich star is likely to have to find himself pastures new.
The German champions begin their Bundesliga defence in a few weeks and Thomas Tuchel will surely want to have a dressing room that’s free of conflict and anger.
During the latter part of last season, Sadio Mane’s ill-thought actions in punching his colleague, Leroy Sane, detailed by the Evening Standard, clearly had an effect on the squad.
It’s perhaps with that in mind that it appears former Liverpool star, Mane’s time at the Bavarian giants is now over.
The striker is believed to prefer to stay at the club after what was a disappointing campaign in 2022/23 – just 12 goals in 30 games per WhoScored – but that clearly isn’t an option for Bayern.
‘I’m told that Sadio Mané just gave an initial green light to speaking to Saudi delegation after saying no multiple times as he wanted to stay at Bayern,’ Fabrizio Romano wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside Substack.
‘There’s still no official bid or official numbers, and no negotiations took place with European clubs, Al Nassr are pushing now. Bayern want Mané to leave, in very clear way.’
At 31 years of age, the player still has a few years left in him but perhaps not at the top level.
It speaks volumes that there would appear to be no enquiries forthcoming from Europe’s best teams for a player who, not too long ago, was part of one of the most feared front three’s on the continent.
Though the Saudi Pro League is far from being the finished article at present too, the rate in which the league are picking up players suggests that it won’t be too long before players in their prime are turning their backs on the Premier League, Bundesliga and the like, for the incredible riches on offer in Saudi Arabia.