Author of a remarkable season with Liverpool and Senegal, Sadio Mané is among the favorites for the Ballon d’Or 2022. Just 10 years ago, the striker revealed himself in the jersey of FC Metz and saved the relegated club financially in National.
Winner of the African Cup of Nations with Senegal in February, on track to play a third Champions League final with Liverpool (winner in 2019), Sadio Mané is undoubtedly having one of the most successful seasons of his career. Enough to make the 30-year-old Senegalese striker a very serious candidate for the Ballon d’Or 2022.
Who could have imagined such a journey, when 10 years ago almost to the day, Mané scored his first goal in the jersey of FC Metz (5-2 defeat against Guingamp). The Moselle club then lived through a nightmarish season, at the end of which it would be relegated to National for the first time in its history.
During the summer of 2011, Sadio Mané landed in Moselle, fromDakar Generation Foot Academy, of which FC Metz is a partner. In a few months, the talent, the speed, the quality of dribbling of the native of Sedhiou impress and mark the spirits. He was called up with the professional team and came into play for the first time on January 14, 2012 during a defeat against Bastia (1-0).
FC Metz sinks into a negative spiral, but Sadio Mané reveals himself. In April, he signed his first professional contract for a period of four years and therefore planted his first pawn a few days later. In total, he will take part in 19 matches (12 starts). This does not prevent the Garnets from finishing the season in 18th place in the standings and suffering a historic descent into the third division.
The promising performances of the young Senegalese caught the eye of recruiters. Many foreign clubs want to attract him in their nets, in particular the Red Bull Salzburg (Austria), which makes several offers. But Bernard Serin, the president of FC Metz, is keen on his nugget. “We absolutely wanted to keep Sadio Mané, he will assure. This is why I had set a very high transfer fee thinking that no club could match this sum, never reached for a National player and even extremely rare for a Ligue 2 player.
This offer could not decently be refused
Bernard Serin, president of FC Metz (August 31, 2012)
–
To afford Mané, the bar is therefore set at four million euros. Not enough to deter the Austrians, who end up aligning themselves in the very last hours of the summer transfer window (the Senegalese had then scored a league goal against Luzenac). FC Metz, financially weakened by its relegation to National, then agrees to let its rough diamond slip away.
“It was not an easy decision to make, believe me, but this offer, I could not decently refuse it, explains at the time Bernard Serin, who would certainly have had to make up a significant deficit at the end of the season. In view of the dead loss of TV rights and certain subsidies, selling was the only solution so that I did not put my hand in my pocket even more.
This surprise transfer (the third most important at the time for the club after those of Robert Pirès and Miralem Pjanic) will allow FC Metz to secure the balance of its accounts, to maintain a quality workforce and to start again on sound basics. At the end of this season in purgatory, the Grenats will immediately return to Ligue 2, before continuing with a rise in Ligue 1.
For his part, the prodigy Sadio Mané will continue his flight in Salzburg for two seasons (45 goals and 32 assists in 87 games!) Before leaving for the English championship in Southampton for 23 million euros. In 2016, the legendary Liverpool FC will break the bank to secure his services (41 million euros).
With the Reds, the twirling attacker will explode. He won the Champions League in 2019 (finalist in 2018), then the English championship in 2020, a title after which the club had been chasing for 30 years.
This season, Mané walks on water in club as in selection. He is at the top of his game. In February, he offered Senegal their first African Cup of Nations, finishing as the competition’s best player, and erased the disappointment of a lost final in 2019. He also contributed to the qualification of the Lions for the next World Cup in Qatar.
With Liverpool still in the running for the title in England, the former Messin just scored a goal this Wednesday in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League against Villareal (2-0). The Reds are in a very favorable position to go to a new final of the most prestigious of European competitions after those of 2018 and 2019.
His fantastic season makes Sadio Mané one of the big favorites with Karim Benzema for the Ballon d’Or. In October, the Senegalese could well become the second African (after Georges Weah in 1995) to win this award. And we will remember that this story began on the banks of the Moselle.
–
