Senegalese striker Sadio Nane is delighted to have joined Al Nassr in the Saudi league.
Mane in an interview revealed that he turned down the advances of former Liverpool team-mates Roberto Firmino and Fabinho when deciding on which Saudi Premier League club to join.
“I spoke with (Roberto) Firmino for sure. He wanted me to come to the wrong club! I’m joking! He called me two or three times to convince me to come to Al Ahli because I had contact with them from the beginning. But, in this time when Al Nassr come then I chose Al Nassr,” said Sadio Mane, Al Nassr forward.
Mane admitted that Al Ahli’s Firmino and Al-Ittihad’s Fabinho both tried to persuade him to join their respective clubs, but the attraction of playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo was too much for the former Liverpool forward.
“Of course, (Jordan) Henderson is also here. He sent me a message two days ago to wish me good luck with my team and I’m really, really excited to meet all of these great guys and also out on the pitch to face each other for the first time and hopefully I am going to win against you guys!” Mane said.
The 31-year-old Mané left Bayern Munich after a single season with the German champion in which he struggled for goals, was ruled out of the World Cup with injury, and was briefly suspended by the club.
“Really, really happy to be part of this project and to make sure this league becomes one of the best, for sure. I think if you see how they work on it and how they are doing their best to bring all these great players, I think you can see how ambitious they are,” mane said
Former Manchester United defender Alex Telles, midfielder Marcelo Brozovi, who led runner-up Inter Milan in this year’s Champions League final, and Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina are among Ronaldo’s new Al-Nassr colleagues.
The Senegal attacker scored 12 goals in 38 games for Bayern, but only one of those goals came after a leg injury that kept him out of the World Cup in November. Bayern Munich suspended Mané for one game in April for “misconduct” after German media alleged he had assaulted teammate Leroy Sané in the locker room following a Champions League loss to Manchester City.