1 year ago
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Photo by Markus Gilliar - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images
A new manager at Bayern Munich hasn’t improved the prospects for the 31-year-old Senegalese forward.
As poorly as things have gone for Liverpool in 2022-23, the club’s stumbles on the pitch pale in comparison to the stumble for departed star forward Sadio Mané, who joined Bayern Munich last summer and is now set to be transfer listed.
That’s the story according to Sky Germany, at least, who say the 31-year-old who signed with Bayern in a £35M deal less than a year ago—and finished second in Ballon d’Or voting in the autumn—is being actively shopped and will be sold if possible.
If possible may doesn’t mean a departure is guaranteed, though. Not with the player on £350k per week through 2025, a contract that would likely be considered unaffordable by any potential suitor and double what he was making at Liverpool.
Unless Bayern are wiling to heavily subsidize his departure, the reality is that they paid big for an aging star whose physical attributes appeared on the decline until a switch to a false nine role last season at Liverpool helped compensate for that.
At Bayern, he has not continued in that role, and results have predictably been less than the Germans expected—though there’s a strong case blame should be placed overwhelmingly at the feet of their recruitment and coaching departments.
For their part, Liverpool are said to hold no interest in bringing Mané back, which shouldn’t be surprising given the club were content to see him leave in search of a last big payday rather than committing to such an inflated contract themselves.
Bayern are also said to have been underwhelmed by fullback João Cancelo’s performances since his January arrival and will return the on-loan 28-year-old Portuguese defender to Manchester City rather than triggering his purchase option.
