22, June 2022
Football: Bayern complete signing of Senegal star Mane from Liverpool 0
Bayern Munich confirmed the signing of Sadio Mane from Liverpool on Wednesday, as the Senegal forward signed a three-year deal with the Bundesliga champions.
Bayern have reportedly paid a fee which could rise to 41 million euros ($43 million) for Mane.
The 30-year-old won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup titles during six years on Merseyside.
“My agent told me that there were also enquiries from other clubs, but for me, the feeling was right from the start when Bayern presented their plan with me,” Mane told German daily Bild.
“It was the right club at the right time.
“It is one of the biggest clubs in the world and the team are always fighting for all the titles.”
Mane added he wants to “do everything to make sure I win titles with my teammates”.
Bayern won a 10th straight Bundesliga title last season.
Mane, voted African footballer of the year in 2019, is a versatile attacker who has spent the majority of his career on the wing but can also play through the middle.
His arrival will ease the pain for Bayern if wantaway striker Robert Lewandowski leaves the club, while Serge Gnabry is also stalling over a contract extension.
“Sadio Mane is a global star, who underlines the appeal of Bayern and will increase the attractiveness of the Bundesliga as a whole,” said Bayern president Herbert Hainer.
“Fans come to the stadiums to see unique players like this.”
‘Top international star’
The signing of Mane takes some pressure off Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic after Lewandowski made it clear he would not extend his contract which expires next year.
Mane netted 120 goals in 269 games for Liverpool.
“In Sadio Mane, a top international star is coming to FC Bayern, who has left his mark on world football,” said Salihamidzic.
“We’re proud to have brought him to Munich.
“The fact that he’s joining FC Bayern shows that our club and he have big aims.”
Mane left Senegal at the age of 19 to join Metz and spent a season in France before joining RB Salzburg, where he learned German.
He switched to the Premier League when he joined Southampton in 2014 and moved to Liverpool two years later.
Mane played leading roles as Liverpool won the 2019 Champions League and ended their 30-year wait for the English league title in 2020.
“It is really strange to no longer be a Liverpool player but I had an unbelievable time,” he told Liverpool’s website. “I am going to be Liverpool’s number one fan forever.”
Mane, Senegal’s record goalscorer, was part of the team which won the Africa Cup of Nations in February, converting the winning penalty in the final shoot-out against Egypt.
Source: AFP
29, June 2022
Football: Lukaku ‘very happy’ as he arrives in Milan ahead of Inter return 0
Romelu Lukaku said he was “very happy” to be back after the Belgian international striker arrived in Milan on Wednesday ahead of his return to Inter Milan on loan from Chelsea.
A beaming Lukaku emerged from Linate airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning and gave his short but delighted response to the handful of reporters awaiting his arrival.
The 29-year-old will undergo a medical later in the day before making his long-awaited Inter comeback official.
Chelsea agreed to a reported deal in which Inter will pay an initial eight million euros ($8.42 million) plus a further potential three million euros in bonuses for the loan.
Lukaku will again lead Inter’s attack as they attempt to regain the Serie A title after taking a pay cut — a reported 8.5 million euros for the coming campaign.
Lukaku leaves London after failing to make an impression for a second time at Chelsea, not meeting high expectations following a £97.5 million move from Inter last summer.
He had made himself a fan favourite over two years at Inter after scoring 64 times in 95 games and driving them to their first Serie A title in over a decade, the 2021 Scudetto ending both an 11-year drought and Juventus’ grip on Italian football.
However the financial problems of Inter’s owners the Suning Group, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic led to coach Antonio Conte leaving the club almost as soon as the title was won.
He claimed the cost cutting required by Inter would have prevented him building the team he wanted to challenge domestically and in Europe.
Lukaku followed Conte out the door after then European champions Chelsea offered a whopping sum which eased some of Inter’s financial issues, and started well on his return to Stamford Bridge.
Coach Thomas Tuchel said “he was the type of guy we were missing” after he netted four times in his first four games, but his next goal didn’t come until early December and injury, Covid-19 and poor form kept him out of the team.
He then infuriated Chelsea fans by conducting an interview with Sky Sport Italia in which he expressed his unhappiness and said he had Inter in his heart and wanted to return.
Those comments also led Inter’s hardcore ultras to say they weren’t interested in having him back, considering his move to Chelsea a betrayal of his claim to love the Milanese club.
They told other fans not to arrive en masse to welcome Lukaku back as he is now “just one of many” after previously being “treated like a king” by supporters.
Lukaku will be critical to coach Simone Inzaghi’s bid to snatch back the league crown from AC Milan after they finished two points behind their local rivals last term.
Source: AFP