Sadio Mane is on the verge of completing a move to Bundesliga side Bayern Munich, in a deal worth up to £35 million.
The Senegalese winger was recently in his home village of Bambali playing football with his old friends on a muddy pitch, and it must have been a nostalgic moment for the 30-year-old.
“Back to the source with a gala match on the Bambaly pitch where it all started!” the Senegalese ace wrote alongside his post that had him look muddied but all the while envigorated.
What few know, however, is Mane’s parents, being more reserved, discouraged their son from playing football hoping that he would instead take up after his father, who was a teacher by profession.
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“I was born in a village where there had never been a footballer who made it in the major championship,” he told Bleacher Report.
“I remember that when I was little my parents felt that I should study to become a teacher. They thought football was a waste of time and I would never succeed at it,”
“I always said: this is the only job that will enable me to help you. And I think I have a chance to become a footballer.’ They weren’t sure about it because I was a long way from the capital and almost nobody from there had succeeded. So they were against the idea, and they never believed it, right up until the day when I signed my first professional contract.” Mane recalled.
Now far from the humble village he honed his trade in, Sadio Mane has seen his dream come true and is one of the most successful African footballers, still actively playing at the highest level of football.
Mane was signed by Liverpool from Southampton in an agreement worth £30 million in 2016.
Since then he has significantly contributed to the rise of Liverpool having lifted six trophies in his six years at Anfield.
The Bayern Munich bound forward, featured mainly as a winger and striker, and contributed 120 goals for Liverpool, making him a fan favorite who will be sorely missed by Merseyside folk.
During his time in England, the 30-year-old has won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup.
The winger together with Mohamed Salah on the opposite flank, and Roberto Firmino, comprised Liverpool’s famous attacking trio.
