SAUDI PRO LEAGUE
Senegal’s Mane teams up with Ronaldo at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr
Bayern Munich’s Senegal forward Sadio Mane has joined Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr after one season with the Bundesliga champions, both clubs said on Tuesday.
He thus becomes a teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo at the club.
Mane has signed a four-year contract, Al-Nassr added on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Financial details were not disclosed but media reports said the Saudis paid 40 million euros ($43.85 million) for the 31-year-old who had two more years left on his Bayern contract
Mane moved to Bayern last year with high hopes after netting 120 goals in 269 games for Liverpool where he won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup.
He was a key figure in the Merseyside club’s attack but failed to make the same impression at Bayern, where he fell out with team mate Leroy Sane and hit the German winger – an offence for which he was fined and suspended.
The twice African Footballer of the Year averaged more than 20 goals a season in his last five campaigns with Liverpool but scored only 12 for Bayern.
“We want to thank Sadio Mane for the past season,” Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen told the club website.
“It certainly hasn’t been an easy year for him, suffering an injury just before the World Cup and missing out on participation with Senegal, whom he had earlier led to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations triumph and World Cup qualification
“Due to the long downtime, he wasn’t able to contribute as much to FC Bayern as we and he himself had hoped. That’s why we decided together that he should start a new chapter in his career and make a fresh start at another club.”
Mane joins an Al Nassr outfit who have strengthened their squad since the marquee signing of Cristiano Ronaldo last term.
The Saudis, who were runners-up last season, have signed midfielders Marcelo Brozovic from Inter Milan and Seko Fofana from Lens while left back Alex Telles has also joined from Manchester United.
Al-Nassr were banned from registering new players earlier this month due to outstanding debts, with FIFA saying they had to pay 460,000 euros ($504,712.00) related to the transfer of Nigerian Ahmed Musa from Leicester City.
-Reuters
Former Super Eagles’ coach, Jose Peseiro is on the line to coach Saudi Arabia Pro League first tier team, Al Riyadh.
Information from the oil rich country indicate that Peseiro who had previously coached the Saudi Arabia national team is one of the two being considered to replace Odair Hellmann at the Saudi club which placed 14th at the end of last season.
It is gathered that Peseiro has a competitor in Spanish cooach, Javier Pereira who is also lineup for the job.
Peseiro had previously managed Al Hilal in 2006 and later coached the Saudi national team during their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Al Nasr’s Cristiano Ronaldo capped his first full Saudi Pro League season in style as he broke the record for the most goals scored in one campaign on Monday.
The Portuguese 39-year-old scored a brace in his side’s 4-2 win over Al Ittihad on the final matchday to bring his league tally this season to 35 goals.
The previous record was held by former Al Nasr forward and Moroccan international Abderrazak Hamdallah, who scored 34 goals in 2018-19.
Ronaldo, who played for Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, joined Al Nasr in January 2023.
-Reuters
Undefeated Al-Hilal won a record-extending 19th Saudi Pro League title on Saturday with a 4-1 victory over Al-Hazem to reclaim the trophy from Al-Ittihad who won it last season.
Jorge Jesus’ side hold a 12-point advantage over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in second with three matches remaining.
Aleksandar Mitrovic gave Al-Hilal the lead from the penalty spot after 15 minutes but Faiz Selemani netted the equaliser for Al-Hazem in the 34th minute.
However, Jesus’s side took the lead again with an own goal from Ahmed Al-Juwaid in the 39th minute.
Mitrovic scored again in first-half stoppage time and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored three minutes later to make it 4-1.
Al-Hilal are chasing the treble having clinched the Saudi Super Cup title in April, and having reached the Saudi King’s Cup final where they will play Al-Nassr.
-Reuters
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