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Sadio Mane Misses Bayern Munich's Win Over Kawasaki Frontale Due To Transfer Talks With Al Nassr

Sadio Mane did not play as Bayern Munich beat Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 in a pre-season friendly. Mane was left out due to ongoing transfer talks with Al Nassr.

Robert Summerscales

Sadio Mane Misses Bayern Munich's Win Over Kawasaki Frontale Due To Transfer Talks With Al Nassr
Sadio Mane Misses Bayern Munich's Win Over Kawasaki Frontale Due To Transfer Talks With Al Nassr /

Bayern Munich beat Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 in a pre-season friendly in Tokyo on Saturday.

Josip Stanisic scored the only goal in a game that saw Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman and Jamal Musiala all play 45 minutes each.

But Sadio Mane, 31, did not feature for Bayern.

The former Liverpool forward was left out of Saturday's squad after being given permission to speak to Al Nassr regarding a possible move to Saudi Arabia.

Bayern tweeted a short club statement before kickoff at the Japan National Stadium.

It read: "Sadio Mane is in contract talks ahead of a possible transfer and so is not in today's squad."

Mane had featured in Bayern's first two friendlies of the summer, scoring in a 27-0 win over FC Rottach-Egern earlier this month.

According to CBS Soccer's James Benge, Bayern will receive a €40 million transfer fee if Mane decides to join Al Nassr, while the player will reportedly earn a salary worth €40m per year in Saudi Arabia.

Al Nassr finished second in last season's Saudi Pro League, despite Cristiano Ronaldo scoring 14 league goals following his arrival in January.

Croatia midfielder Marcelo Brozovic and Brazilian full-back Alex Telles both joined Ronaldo at Al Nassr earlier this summer.

Al Nassr began the 2023/24 season by drawing 0-0 with fellow Saudi side Al-Shabab in the Arab Club Champions Cup on Friday.

The club's first Saudi Pro League game of the season is set to take place on August 14 when they travel to Dammam to face Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq.

Mane joined Bayern from Liverpool in June last year for an initial transfer fee of £27.5m.

That deal also included a potential further £7.5m in performance-related add-ons. But it is understood that Bayern will not have to make any further payments to Liverpool if Mane is sold this summer.

Mane scored just seven goals in 25 Bundesliga matches last season.

Bayern Munich forward Sadio Mane pictured in July 2022
Sadio Mane is likely to leave Bayern Munich to sign for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia this summer :: IMAGO/Fred Joch
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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.

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