Sadio Mane has revealed he refused persuasion from former Liverpool teammates Roberto Firmino and Fabinho to join their Saudi Arabian Pro League sides before opting for Al Nassr.
The Senegal international is a recent acquisition by the Knights of Najd from Bayern Munich, continuing a trend of seeing high profile players from Europe head to the Arabian Gulf this summer.
Firmino and Fabinho are among those names, moving from Liverpool to join Al Ahli and Al-Ittihad respectively. Despite the Brazilian duo trying to convince Mane to join either of their clubs, the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations champion had his sights set on Al Nassr where he has teamed up with Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
“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,” Mane said.
“Of course, in the same time I spoke with Fabinho because he was quite closer (to a transfer) than me and he wanted me to come to Al-Ittihad. But, in this time when Al Nassr come then I chose Al Nassr.
“Of course, [Jordan] Henderson is also here [with Al-Ettifaq]. 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!
“Really, really happy to be part of this project and to make sure this league become 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.”
From AlNassr ????
Good evening ???? pic.twitter.com/Jx73z4BFMo— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) August 8, 2023
Mane has already played thrice for Al Nassr in the Arab Club Champions Cup, first playing Egyptian giants Zamalek in their final group stage match before facing Raja Casablanca in the quarter-finals and Iraqi outfit Al-Shorta in the semi-finals.
Al Nassr will slug it out with Saudi rivals Al Hilal in the final on Saturday.
