Sadio Mane

Sadio Mane is a professional footballer from Senegal. He currently plays in Saudi Arabia with Al Nassr. He is a practicing Muslim.

He also used to play for top clubs Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Red Bull Salzburg and is a top-class forward who once won the Premier League Golden Boot and is a two-time African Footballer of the Year.

Club Career

When he was a kid, he ran away from home to pursue a career in football since his father, who was an imam, forbade it. His family later came around and started supporting his career. From 2009 to 2011, he trained with Generation Foot in Dakar, Senegal.

He started his senior career playing for Metz B in 2011. In 2012, he was promoted to the Metz main team before he left them and signed with Red Bull Salzburg. In total, he made 63 appearances with Salzburg.

In 2014, he signed with English Premier League club Southampton and stayed with them until 2016. In 2016, he signed with Liverpool on a five-year deal with a 34 million pound transfer fee.

While with the Reds, he was awarded the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2018-2019 season. In 2019 and 2022, he was also named the African Footballer of the Year. In the 2018-2019 season, he won the Onze d’Or.

In 2018-19, Mane helped Liverpool win the UEFA Champions League with his first-minute pass in the final striking the hand of Tottenham's Moussa Sissoko leading to Mohamed Salah's goal from the penalty spot. Liverpool won the final 2-0 over Spurs. He helped Liverpool claim a breakthrough Premier League title in 2019-20, netting 18 league goals. During his time with Liverpool, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year four times.

In 2022, he left Liverpool and signed to play Bayern Munich, helping the Bavarians clinch the Bundesliga title in 2022-23 although his output was below his best, netting 12 goals from 38 games in all competitions. He wasn't helped by an untimely injury mid-season.

In August 2023, Mane joined Al Nassr, linking up with ex-Liverpool teammates Fabinho and Roberto Firmino at the club.

International Career

Alongside his professional career, he also played for the Senegal National Football Team. In 2022, he was named a Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion.

The highlight of Mane's international career, that has spanned more than 90 caps and 30 goals, was winning the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations when he netted the decisive spotkick in the penalty shootout in the final against ex-Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah's Egypt. Mane had earlier in the game had a penalty saved.

The triumph was Senegal's first continental crown, having lost the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations final 1-0 to Algeria with Mane named in that Team of the Tournament.

Mane sadly missed the 2022 World Cup after picking up a knee injury playing for Bayern only weeks out from the December tournament. Despite missing Mane, Senegal made the last 16.

Individual Honors

2022 - Socrates Award

• 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 - CAF Team of the Year
• August & September 2016, August 2018, March 2019 - PFA Fans' Player of the Month
• August 2017, March 2019, November 2019 - Premier League Player of the Month
• 2016–17 - Liverpool Fans' Player of the Season Award
• 2016–17 - Liverpool Players' Player of the Season Award
• 2018–19 - Premier League Golden Boot
• 2018–19 - UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season
• 2019 - UEFA Team of the Year
• 2021 - Africa Cup of Nations Player of the Tournament
• 2019, 2021 - Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament
• 2019, 2022 - African Footballer of the Year
• 2018–19 - Onze d'Or
• 2019 - IFFHS Men's World Team
• 2018–19 - ESM Team of the Year
• 2018–19 - PFA Fans' Player of the Year, Premier League
• 2020 - IFFHS CAF Men Team of The Year
• 2011–2020 - IFFHS CAF Men's Team of the Decade
• 2020 - IFFHS Best CAF Men's Player of the Year
• 2022 - Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion