Bayern Munich's sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has insisted he is not worried about Sadio Mane's slump in form since joining the Bundesliga champions earlier this summer and instead labelled him one of the 'best players in the world'.
After leaving Anfield after six wonderful years, where he won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup., as well as the Club World Cup and the Super Cup, Mane has so far failed to live up to the heights that were expected of him in Munich.
Having scored in Bayern's 5-3 German Super Cup victory over RB Leipzig at the end of July and found the back of the net three times in his first three Bundesliga outings, the Senegal international has since only added to his tally once for his new club. That came in DFB-Pokal first-round tie against third division side Viktoria Köln.
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The 30-year-old's recent struggles were there for all to see as the German champions defeated Barcelona in their first Champions League game of the season earlier this month, with manager Julian Nagelsmann dragging Mane off with 20 minutes to go at the Allianz Arena.
However, following extended criticism, the club's sporting director, Salihamidzic, has leapt to the defence of the former Liverpool man and insisted Mane, who has failed to score in his last five club games, is currently getting used to his new surroundings and has no doubts he will replicate the performance levels that tempted Bayern to spend a potential £35m on him earlier this summer.
"Sadio still needs a little time, he has to get used to the Bundesliga too, but he will. I speak regularly with him," Salihamidzic told Bild. "I know what it's like to arrive as a newcomer to a team, in a different country, in a different city, in a slightly different football culture.
"Sadio is in this process, everything will soon be more familiar to him and we will soon see that on the pitch too. He is one of the best players in the world, we will still have a lot of joy with him.”
During the international break, Mane was in action for Senegal and netted his first goal since August 31 as he scored against Bolivia during a 2-0 victory.
But his current struggles in Bavaria will be nothing new to Liverpool supporters, who watched the forward endure one of the most barren spells of his Anfield career this time last year. It was a run which led to a dejected Mane going eight Premier League games, between November and January, without finding the back of the net.
It was only following the arrival of Luis Diaz from FC Porto in January that Mane's season seemed to kick start as he was moved from his role as a conventional left-forward into a more central position. It was a tweak from Jurgen Klopp that seemed to produce Mane's finest form since the 2019/20 season, as he led Liverpool to FA Cup and League Cup success and also to the Champions League final against Real Madrid.
Prior to the international break, Bayern boss Nagelsmann seemed to mirror the current thoughts of Salihamidzic as he called for patience surrounding Mane's form.
“He's a new signing. He just needs to adapt. He was trying. I'm certain he will succeed for us,” Nagelsmann said. “Everything I need to say about Sadio, I'll say to him and not in the media.
"He played a new position today, which of course he didn't play so much last year at Liverpool, but the years before that. It's quite normal as a newcomer who of course still has to adapt to certain procedures that are a bit different to those at Liverpool.
“I already said during the week that I would like him to do certain things more. Maybe less looking for the ball or team-mates and trying to be a bit more self-confident, but we are very happy that we have him and he will put his stamp on our game.”
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