LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Sadio Mane has spoken out about the alleged punching of Leroy Sane following a Champions League match.
Following Bayern’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal matchup back in March, tensions between Mane and Sane erupted in the Bayern locker room.
Mane allegedly struck his teammate after becoming upset with the way the player addressed him on the field.
The Senegal international was escorted from the locker room and later suspended by the team for his behavior, and manager Thomas Tuchel eventually declared the incident resolved.
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Finally speaking about the altercation with Sane, Mane acknowledged that he could have handled the situation better.
“Something like that can happen. It happened,” the 31-year-old said in an interview with Senegalese television station 2sTV.
“We were able to solve this small problem. Sometimes it’s good to solve problems, but maybe not in this way. That’s behind us now.”
Mane left Liverpool for Bayern on a permanent basis last summer, but his debut year at the Allianz Arena was not as successful as anticipated.
As a result of his injury struggles throughout the holiday season, Mane only scored 11 goals in 37 appearances and lost his spot in the starting XI.
The winger hasn’t yet made arrangements to leave Germany, despite rumors that he might be sold this summer amid a potential return to the Premier League.
“If everything goes well, I will return to Bayern,” he added. “It’s been a very complicated season, but that happens. It wasn’t a surprise to me. I expected it to be a bit complicated.
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“That’s normal. I love challenges and Bayern is a big challenge. Now it’s up to me to give everything to meet this challenge.”
Bacary Cisse, the agent for the Bayern star, also spoke with 2sTV regarding his client’s future in response to recent allegations that Saudi Arabian clubs are reportedly interested in signing him.
Cisse expressed his belief that Mane’s first season in Germany was “not bad” before adding on his links to the Middle East: “I haven’t heard anything about offers from Saudi Arabia. It is certain that he will stay with Bayern.”