After what was a bright start to life at Bayern Munich after making the move from Liverpool during last summer’s transfer window, Sadio Mane’s first season with the Rekordmeister did not go according to plan.
The knee injury he sustained certainly derailed his momentum just before the World Cup break in November and he missed out on playing with Senegal at the tournament in Qatar. He never quite seemed to hit his full stride again after he made his injury comeback in February.
When he joined from Liverpool, Mane signed a contract with Bayern that would keep him at the club until June 2025, but he has been linked with a potential move away from Munich this summer due to what’s largely considered to be a lackluster season for him individually. He started the season scoring 5 goals from his first 6 appearances across all competitions and then also scoring in three straight Champions League group stages matches, but really struggled to get back to top form after recovering from his knee injury. He might’ve been falling a bit out of favor with Julian Nagelsmann, but Thomas Tuchel has always been a fan of Mane’s ever since his time as Chelsea manager, which could help the Senegalese’s case. Per Sport Bild’s Christian Falk (via @iMiaSanMia), Mane wants to stay a Bayern this summer and he has communicated to the club that he will report to preseason training, which is set to begin on July 13th for him. Falk adds that Mane is determined to prove his worth to Tuchel and Bayern.
Tuchel is still in search of a striker to sign this summer and the club has already wrapped up deals for both Konrad Laimer and Raphael Guerreiro. If Lucas Hernandez winds up leaving for Paris Saint-Germain, which is highly likely, the club will also be looking for a left-footed center to back to sign, so there aren’t really any direct transfer threats in terms of Mane’s prospects for more minutes, but it’s up to him to turn his performances around for the better.
