After a bright start at Bayern Munich, Sadio Mane fell out of favor with Julian Nagelsmann and never really seemed to hit his full stride after recovering from a knee problem that kept him out of the World Cup in Qatar. He sustained the knee injury in a 6-1 win over Werder Bremen shortly before the World Cup break and he didn’t mark his return to action until late February, shortly before Nagelsmann was replaced by Thomas Tuchel during the March international break.
The injury arguably derailed what could’ve been considered a successful, promising maiden season at Bayern after joining from Liverpool last summer. After all, he scored 5 goals from his opening 5 matches across all competitions and 6 more goals in the Hinrunde across all competitions before injuring his knee. In the Ruckrunde, starts were few and far between for Mane and he never seemed to return to the point he was at before the injury.
Despite an underwhelming season for the Senegalese attacker at Bayern, the player himself isn’t too bothered by how the season unfolded, as he expected a great challenge with a new club abroad.
“I’m on vacation with the family. It was a very complicated season, it happens. It wasn’t a surprise, I expected things to be a bit complicated. It’s normal. I love challenges, & Bayern is a big challenge. It’s up to me to do everything to meet this challenge,” he told 2stv in Senegal (via @iMiaSanMia).
When he was asked whether or not he’d definitely be staying at Bayern Munich this summer, Mane replied, “Yes, God willing. If everything goes well, I’m going to return to Bayern.”
With the way the second half of the season panned out, he was a potential candidate to be sold this summer as the club prepped for a crucial summer transfer window. Clubs across Europe as well as the Middle East showed interest in him, but he seems to want to stay at Bayern and improve upon his first season in Munich.
