Sadio Mane has broken his silence on his dressing room fight with team-mate Leroy Sane that could result in a premature end to his Bayern Munich career.
The former Liverpool forward was alleged to have punched the Germany international in the face after Bayern’s 3-0 defeat to Man City in the Champions League last season. The pair were seen arguing both on the pitch and after the final whistle, with that confrontation continuing into the dressing room.
Sane would then be spotted with a bloodied lip following the altercation, with reports suggesting their team-mates had to pull the pair apart in the dressing room.
Mane was subsequently handed a £250k fine by Bayern, along with a one-match suspension as he sat out their 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim. And while he would return to the starting XI next time out, even scoring as the Bavarians lost 3-1 to Mainz, he ultimately finished the campaign on the fringes of Thomas Tuchel’s side.
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The 31-year-old ultimately struggled in Munich after leaving Liverpool for an initial £27.5m last summer. Scoring 12 goals from 38 appearances in all competitions, 27 of his outings would come from the start, while he only featured in the Bundesliga 25 times.
Admittedly, injury did not help as a leg injury which required surgery mid-season ruled him out for over three months and resulted in him missing the World Cup. Meanwhile, the Bundesliga title proved to Bayern’s only major piece of silverware, with Mane left as an unused substitute on the final day against Koln as a late strike from fellow substitute Jamal Musiala saw them crowned champions.
Since his altercation with Sane, reports have continued to suggest that Bayern will look to sell Mane this summer with Tuchel deeming him surplus to requirements.
But the Senegal international has played down the fight as a ‘small problem’, before insisting that he is hoping to put it behind him and prove himself for Bayern Munich next season.
"This kind of things can happen. It happened. We were able to solve this small problem,” he is quoted as saying by the Mirror. “Sometimes it's good to solve problems, but maybe not in this way. It's behind us now.
“We'll try to fight together to help the club achieve its goals next season.
"I'm on vacation with the family. It was a very complicated season, it happens. It wasn't a surprise, I expected things to be a bit complicated. It's normal.
“I love challenges, and Bayern is a big challenge. It's up to me to do everything to meet this challenge. God willing. If everything goes well, I'm going to return to Bayern."
