The Story of Sadio Mané
Wed, Jan 19.22
Sadio Mané was born in Bambali, a small town in the Sédhiou district of Senegal which has an estimated population of around 1,260.
Mané came to football later than most, he was banned from playing as a kid by his dad who wanted him to focus on religion. His father passed away at age 7 and from then on he had the full support of his family to chase his football dream.
He started his career by getting picked up by the Generation Foot youth academy which has produced the likes of Papiss Cissé, Diafra Sakho & Ismaïla Sarr.
After spending a couple years at Generation Foot, Mané moved onto Metz through the clubs partnership where he played for a season in Ligue 2 before being picked up by RB Salzburg.
At Salzburg is where Mané started to make a name for himself, scoring a brace in his second game for the club. He went on to record 20 goals & 11 assists in all competitions in his first seat Salzburg, mainly playing on the left of a front 3.
In 2013/14 Mané continued his impressive performances for the club, finishing with 23 goals and 19 assists in 50 appearances and winning the league and domestic cup double.
His form in Austria caught the attention of Premier League clubs and Southampton eventfully made Sadio Mané their record signing for £11.8 million at 22 years old.
In his first season in the Premier League, Mané made 30 appearances, scoring 10 goals and adding 10 assists. Mané started the season slow, scoring his first against Stoke City in a 1-0 win, in October and then going on a 7 game goal-drought before being dropped to the bench.
He went on to score 9 goals in the second half of the season, including the fastest Premier League Hattrick of all time against Aston Villa, scoring 3 times in 2 minutes and 56 seconds.
Another solid season at Premier League level in 15/16 followed, scoring 15 goals, including a hat-trick against Manchester City, and recording 9 assists in all competitions, finishing as Southampton’s top scorer for the season.
Following his 2 impressive seasons at Southampton, Liverpool spent big money on the man from Senegal, making him the most expensive African player ever. Mané scored on his debut for the reds against Arsenal in a 4-3 win and didn’t look back.
In his first season at Liverpool, he registered 13 goals and 8 assists and was named in the PFA Team of the season and was also awarded Liverpool’s player of the season with the club finishing in 4th, qualifying for the Champions League.
In 2017/18 Mané was part of a front four which consisted of Coutinho, Salah & Firmino, making them one of the most dangerous sides in the league going forward. Sadio scored 20 goals in all competitions, which included 10 in the Champions League, with only Cristiano Ronaldo scoring more.
Liverpool finished 4th in the league but made it all the way to the Champions League final, giving Mané his first chance for silverware in England. Mané scored in the final, making him the first Senegalese player to score in a Champions League final as Liverpool went down 3-1 to Real Madrid.
At the start of the next season, Mané became the fifth player in Liverpool’s history to score in 6th consecutive home games putting him amongst the likes of Michael Owen, Fernando Torres, Mo Salah and Luis Suarez. He also became the clubs record goal-scorer away from home in the Champions League with a goal against Bayern Munich.
Mané continued to break records in the 18/19 season, breaking Demba Ba’s record for most goals scored by a Senegalese player in a Premier League season, when he scored his 17th for the season against Fulham.
Mané was nominated for the PFA player of the year in 18/19 and made the PFA team of the season, and won the Premier League Golden Boot award with 22 goals alongside Salah & Aubamayang. Liverpool made the Champions League final again in 18/19 with Mané scoring again and this time they lifted the title. In the League Liverpool lost just 1 game and missed out on the league title by a single point to Manchester City.
Mané was called up to Senegal's squad for the African Cup of Nations in 2019 where he took the side to the final, losing 1-0 to Riyad Mahrez’s Algeria side.
Mané was named in the team of the tournament, finishing as the 2nd highest scorer in the competition
Mané went on to be be included in the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or and finished in 4th place, only behind Lionel Messi, Virgil Van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo. He was also named African footballer of the year for 2019, becoming the 2nd Senegalese player in history to win the award.
In March 2020, Mané scored the winner against Bournemouth as Liverpool set a new record with 22 consecutive wins in the Premier League as they marched on to win their first league title in 30 years. Mané finished 19/20 with 22 goals in all competitions and 18 of those in the Premier League.
The following season Mané and Liverpool both struggled with from and Covid, with a run of form of going only 1 win in 7 games at one point in the league, resulting in a disappointing 3rd place finish. Mané described this season as his worst of his career.
This season so far, Mané has gone on to score his 100th Premier League goal, being only the third African to do so, behind Didier Drogba and Mohammed Salah.
Will he add any more silverware with Liverpool this season? Or Perhaps he can inspire Senegal to go one step further than they did last time and win the African Cup of Nations? Let us know what you think
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