Sadio Mane joined Bayern Munich in a £35.1million agreement from Liverpool earlier this summer and the German champions have now signed the player who drove the forward to training.
Désiré Ségbé Azankpo is a 29-year-old Beninese international who has been close friends with Mane – who netted on his Bayern debut this weekend – throughout his personal career, but the two have had very different paths in football across the past decade.
The two players initially met at the Génération Foot club in Senegal before both moving to French club Metz, where they continued their close friendship. However, the past decade saw Mane reach the very elite of football with spells at Red Bull Salzburg, Southampton, Liverpool and now Bayern.
Azankpo has enjoyed an impressive professional career, winning seven caps for his native Benin while embarking on a nomadic career which included spells at Luxembourg club Jeunesse Esch, Oldham Athletic, Dunkerque and, most recently, Romanian club Dinamo București.
The 29-year-old had been without a club this summer and had been spending time with Mane following his move to Munich to help him adapt to his new club and city, including driving his close friend to training at the club – acting as his chauffeur.
This is not unusual for the two players, who have remained close despite their previous geographical distance. They have even shared a house together and have regularly been seen attending the same events; Azankpo accompanied Mane to receive his 2022 African Footballer of the Year award recently.
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Arguably the highlight of Azankpo’s career was the 2019 African Cup of Nations, when he was part of the matchday squad for Benin who were edged out by Mane’s Senegal at the quarter-final stage of the competition.
Now, the striker has enjoyed a remarkable moment as Bayern Munich – who had been aware that he had been chauffeuring Mane around the city and helping him settle at the club – have offered him a two-year contract to play for their II team.
He will now play a part in the squad of Martin Demichelis where his teammates will include Scotland Under-19 international Liam Morrison, competing in this season’s Regionalliga Bayern.
Mane became part of a fearsome three-pronged attack at Liverpool alongside Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, but the additions of Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez in recent times has ensured greater rotation. However, Mane has remained a regular starter alongside Salah and Diaz prior to his switch to Bayern.
