SADIO MANE MAKES MOVE TO BAYERN MUNICH
Liverpool forward Sadio Mane is set to join Bayern Munich on a permanent move. The German champions have agreed to pay the Merseyside team up to £35.1million for the 2019 CAF African Footballer of the Year.
The transfer was agreed on Friday after Bayern Munich brought an improved offer for the Senegalese captain that was close to Liverpool’s £42.5million valuation. The deal consists of a guaranteed fee of £27.5million (€32million), £5million in appearance-based add-ons, and £2.6million in individual and team achievements, bringing the package total to £35.1million (€41million). Mane will undergo a medical in Munich on Tuesday as per football journalist Fabrizio Romano with his presentation at the Allianz Arena a possibility on Wednesday. The 30-year-old will sign a three-year contract with Bayern Munich that will keep him at the club until June of 2025.
Mane had told Liverpool of his desire to leave after the Champions League final and made Bayern his preferred destination by the end of May. With Divock Origi leaving for Milan and Roberto Firmino’s form waning, Liverpool were reluctant to let go of one of the current best players in the world, but the decision was helped by the high-profile £85milllion acquisition of Darwin Nunez from Benfica.
Liverpool had rejected Bayern’s previous offers for the 2018/19 Premier League golden boot winner but a fresh round of discussions was penciled in for Friday in Manchester with Bayern’s sporting director, Hasan Salihamidžić and Liverpool’s Julian Ward, alongside Sadio Mane’s agent, Björn Bezemer after Nunez’s transfer was made final. Although not signed as a Sadio Mane replacement, Nunez is seven years younger than Mane and turns 23 next week, meaning that he can add to Liverpool’s attacking threat and be fruitful for them in the next years to come.
Bayern are reported to have had an interest in Mane and got a verbal agreement from him last month. The club pointed to their soft negotiations with Liverpool for Thiago in their meeting on Friday – Thiago switched the Allianz Arena for Anfield a couple of years ago for only £20 million and £5 million in add-ons, in their negotiations for Sadio Mane. After the negotiations on Friday, Salihamidžić told Sky Sports’ Torben Hoffmann: “Yes. Sadio is coming to Bayern.”
Mane has been at Liverpool since 2016 when he joined from Southampton and only had a year left on his contract. He made 269 appearances at the club, finding the net 120 times and providing 48 assists. Mane contributed 20 goals in the Premier League to Liverpool’s stellar season last season, scoring 16 times and providing 4 assists and his 18 goals in the 2019/20 season helped guide Liverpool to their first Premier League title in 30 years.
The Liverpool forward won every trophy in every competition he played in England as he won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup with Liverpool.
It is reported that Liverpool appreciated the respectful way in which Mane went out about communicating his desire to leave. The club persuaded him to extend his contract but he was clear he saw his future elsewhere. Although Liverpool still have plenty of attacking options in Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino, Harvey Elliot, Takumi Minamino, Luis Diaz, and Mohammed Salah, Liverpool fans will be a little bit on the edge if Salah does not extend his contract past next season. Attempts to get the Egyptian to sign a new deal have been unsuccessful but the three-time Premier League golden boot winner has said he will stay at the club next season, at the end of which he is due to become a free agent.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
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