Salihamidzic reveals how Mané's move to Bayern came about
FC Bayern board member for sport Hasan Salihamidzic has explained how he managed to bring Sadio Mané to Allianz Arena.
| Hasan Salihamidzic. |
In a big interview with Sport Bild, Bayern board member for sport Hasan Salihamidzic has revealed details of how the 30-year-old's move to the German champions came about.
Salihamidzic reveals he initially met with Mane's representatives to talk about Serge Gnabry, who they also represent.
"[Bayern technical director] Marco Neppe and I sat together with Björn Bezemer and Daniel Delonga. Their ROOF agency represents Serge Gnabry, and it's no secret we were in talks because we want to extend Serge's contract," Salihamidzic told Sport Bild (via @iMiaSanMia).
"That was when the name of Sadio Mané was mentioned for the first time, as he's also represented by Björn. During the talks, I thought to myself: "Something is possible!". As Björn was leaving, I asked him how big the chances really were.
"When I heard that Mané rejected all Liverpool's attempts to extend his contract, I was immediately interested. Two days later, Julian Nagelsmann, Marco and I were on a plane to Liverpool. For me it was immediately clear, if there was really a chance to sign Sadio Mané, I was ready to work on it day and night. Julian was fully behind it from the start."
Salihamidzic then went to visit Mané along with Neppe and Nagelsmann and immediately "had a good feeling".
"Our visit lasted around 4 hours. I told him that every person in charge at Bayern is convinced he would fit our team at 100 percent. Sadio brings not only footballing qualities and goal threat, but also this hunger that has always characterized FC Bayern," said the Bayern chief.
"Then the coach explained out sporting concept to him. Sadio quickly noticed why he would be a perfect player for FC Bayern and that his way of playing football fits us like a glove.
"Marco Neppe put together a presentation with a mix of tactical stuff but also showed the identity of FC Bayern so that Sadio would get a feeling for our fans, our city and our club. Sadio asked many questions, everything was interesting to him.
"I think the emotional side of things impressed him. In my experience, when a player is convinced of FC Bayern from the first moment, things always work out well."