Why Sadio Mane Would Be Wasted On Bayern Munich And The Bundesliga

For Sadio Mane’s Liverpool career the writing appears to be on the wall.

Ahead of the Champions League final versus Real Madrid, rumors swirled that he would be moving to German giants Bayern Munich.

Whilst on international duty, the 30-year-old fuelled speculation further by remarking light-heartedly “I look at the social networks like all the young Senegalese. Sometimes I see the comments and if you look at it, 60 to 70 percent of Senegalese want me to leave Liverpool, right? And I would do what the Senegalese want.”

It was a comment he soon regretted when speculation went into overdrive.

“I spoke yesterday while joking with a bit of humor and it was everywhere,” he back-pedaled the following day.

“I think we’ll stop there. Liverpool is a club I respect a lot. The fans adopted me since day one.”

The ominous sign-off, for Liverpool fans at least was: “regarding the future, we’ll see.”

A departure to the German champions remains far from complete. It’s been reported that an initial $31 million bid for Mane has been rejected and that a second $37 million offer will also be turned down.

But FC Bayern is confident the club will get their man and those in the know are tipping him to be the replacement for the club’s current talisman.

“What I hear is that he wants to come to Munich,” ex-Bayern and Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann told English radio station talkSPORT. “He’s made it pretty clear that he thinks his time in Liverpool is up and he wants to come and now it’s a matter of how much Liverpool will want for him.

“Obviously Robert Lewandowski wants to join Barcelona, he only has a year left on his contract, so I think Bayern Munich will want to get both deals done in the next few days or next few weeks, but I think it’s very likely that he plays his football here next year.”

Now in his 30s, by traditional standards, the Senegalese star’s peak years are behind him, but there are few signs he is past his best, if anything he’s just as deadly as he ever has been.

Which begs the question why would he want to leave the Premier League and Liverpool?

Bayern Munich is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in European competition, but the Bundesliga, where the Bavarians play each week, is officially the continent’s fourth-best league.

It’s been won by the same team for a decade and only really has one domestic game, Der Klassiker between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, that generates interest internationally.

Mane will be leaving a league where he not only plays in at least 10 major games a season he stars in them.

He scored crucial goals in matches against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City in the Premier League last season, not to mention a brace against City in the FA Cup Semi-Final.

If he goes to Bayern, he will undoubtedly shine, but will it be on the same stage? No.

It all suggests the reason for him going might have less to do with the level he’s playing at and more to do with his situation at Liverpool.

Living in Salah’s shadow

As Mane himself pointed out this season, the respect he and other African players have historically received is way below what they deserved.

Having led his country to the Africa Cup of Nations crown earlier this year you would think he would be a frontrunner for the Ballon D’Or award for the world’s best player, yet he still looks unlikely to take the title.

“The Africa Cup of Nations is one of the biggest for myself, it is the biggest trophy I have won in my life, and for an African player not to have won the Ballon d’Or since George Weah it is sad for sure,” he reflected earlier this year.

Mane’s chances were certainly not helped by Liverpool losing the Champions League final to Karim Benzema and Real Madrid, as the Frenchman was already a favorite for the award.

But it’s not just on the global stage where Mane’s decisive actions in big games have been overlooked.

All too often it has been his teammate Mohamed Salah who has got the plaudits ahead of the diminutive forward.

Mane has never won either of the two most prestigious soccer gongs in England, the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and the Football Writer’s Player of the Year awards, although he could yet triumph in the PFA’s 2021/22 crown.

Salah has won the FWA award twice with teammate Virgil Van Dijk scooping a PFA crown too.

Were he to go to Bayern and Robert Lewandowski depart, the pattern of being overlooked could well change.

The club is notorious for aggressively championing its star names. On one memorable occasion, it even threatened to remove all its players from the German national team because of a perceived lack of respect towards its goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

If Mane is successful for the German side, there’s no doubt they won’t be shy about singing his praises.

Liverpool’s contract conundrum

Another reason why Mane might be feeling undervalued relates to his contract situation at Liverpool.

Both he and Salah have 12-months remaining on their deals and whilst Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has had to bat back non-stop questioning about the future of the Egyptian, discussions about Mane’s future have only begun since the Bayern rumors began.

All too often the Mane situation has been an afterthought to the Salah show.

Given the age profile of the two stars, the likelihood of the pair staying on the type of wages they would want has always been doubtful.

But at the same time, whoever goes will leave a massive hole.

This year more than any other, Liverpool’s two African stars’ paths have been intertwined.

First, they faced off in the Africa Cup of Nations final and then in the play-offs for the World Cup.

On both occasions Mane was victorious and you have to say his achievements in 2021/22 were greater than the Egyptian’s.

Liverpool will hope that, if he does leave, this is not a trend that will continue.