Berlin: Sadio Mane is aiming for the highest goals with his new club Bayern Munich. He hopes to win the Champions League and bag the Ballon d’Or by helping the German giants succeed.
“We want to win all possible trophies. And I will do all to make that come true,” the 30-year-old Senegal striker said after signing a three-year contract with the 2020 Champions League winners.
“The squad has the quality to reach the top. It’s one of the world’s leading sides,” Mane stated.
The former Liverpool forward spoke about the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or as targets when presented to the public on Wednesday in the Allianz Arena.
The 2019 Champions League winner said he doesn’t feel like a new Bayern icon or one of the league’s figureheads. “I am a footballer always talking about the team as the star. It’s up to me to support the team on its way to success,” the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations winner commented.
Mane said he is thankful for his time in Liverpool and the understanding of coach Jurgen Klopp. “He is a great manager and he could understand that I am up for a new challenge after six years.”
In a social media posting, Klopp spoke about the departing striker as one of Liverpool’s greatest, reports Xinhua.
“I will miss him,” the coach said. “With him, one of the world’s best is leaving. Therefore, this is a significant moment. His star will continue to rise, there is no doubt. Everyone who loves Liverpool must love Sadio Mane.”
After having played in France, Austria and England, the Bundesliga is the challenge he has been looking for, the new Bayern arrival said. “My life has been full of challenges and I love challenges,” the attacker added after the Reds agreed on a transfer fee of 32 million euros plus bonuses of up to nine million euros.
Mane called Bayern the right club at the right time.
He said he always followed the Bavarian side when playing for Salzburg. “Playing for Salzburg, you dream of the biggest clubs in Europe. And you follow the Bundesliga and especially Bayern as the town is nearby,” the 2020 Premier League title winner stated.
When it comes to Oliver Kahn, Bayern’s new arrival can be optimistic about playing in the same team as Robert Lewandowski.
The club’s chairman said Lewandowski has to fulfil his contract which runs until 2023, despite rumours about offers from Barcelona.
“At the moment we don’t deal with anything else. We have a responsibility to make the club as successful as possible,” the former German national keeper said.
The 33-year-old Pole has proven his value for the club, Kahn added. “We saw his contribution over the past years and we will see that in the next season. He has got a contract until 2023, nothing else counts for us,” the club official said.
Kahn added that he was exceptionally impressed by Mane making “a decision that quickly”. The 53-year-old said he was proud of the club’s top-class attacking line completed by Mane. “We wanted a team with a realistic chance to win the Champions League. Sadio can lift the team to a new level; therefore, this transfer is of the paramount value for us,” the Bayern club boss said.
–IANS
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