Sadio Mane: Al Nassr's resurgent star enjoying stellar season

By his own exacting standards, Sadio Mane did not have the debut Roshn Saudi League season that many, presumably himself included, anticipated.

The Senegalese forward, signed by Al Nassr from German champions Bayern Munich, arrived in Saudi Arabia in the summer of last year as one of the competition’s preeminent recruits. At the time, he was perched as the reigning CAF Footballer of the Year, an award he has twice received.

With his country, Mane had hoisted aloft the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations trophy. At the club with which he is synonymous, Liverpool, he represented a crucial cog during the sparking Jurgen Klopp era, securing a UEFA Champions League crown, an English Premier League – their first top-flight title in three decades – while he helped the Anfield side achieve more domestic success in capturing the FA Cup and League Cup. There was intercontinental glory, too, in the shape of the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup.

But having then transferred to Bayern, a solitary, title-winning, campaign in Germany followed, before Mane moved to Al Nassr.

And, although that first season in the Kingdom did not pan out quite as he would have envisaged, there were positives. Mane scored 13 goals in 32 RSL appearances, as Al Nassr finished runner-up to Riyadh rivals Al Hilal. However, it was a distant second, the capital competitors separated at the summit by 14 points.

Ultimately, Mane came home 12th in the race for the 2023-24 RSL golden boot, and third in the scoring stakes at Al Nassr, behind Anderson Talisca (16) and Cristiano Ronaldo (35). To be fair, the club captain was out in front of everyone; indeed, Ronaldo broke the record for goals in a single RSL campaign.

Yet, what was often overlooked when assessing Mane's debut season was that he chipped in as well with eight assist, carrying him to 21 goal contributions. Given he was competing in a new league and settling into new surroundings, it constituted a commendable return. Just one that was deemed, by some, to be insufficient. So, there was criticism and, in the summer, constant conjecture: Mane was linked heavily with a transfer from Al Nassr.

Now, in lieu of the start to his second season in Saudi, Al Nassr supporters must be overjoyed that he remained. If Mane’s double against Al Orobah on Saturday opened his goal account for the 2024-25 RSL only in Matchweek 6, his all-round contribution thus far has been considerable.

He has registered five assists already, second only to Al Ittihad's Moussa Diaby (seven) and more than half his total tally from last term. On the opening day, Mane crafted Nassr’s first goal of the season, his clever twist and floated cross supplying Ronaldo to thump home a header in the eventual 1-1 draw with Al Raed in Riyadh.

In Matchweek 2, Mane’s superb slide pass released Marcelo Brozovic to thrash into the net Al Nassr’s fourth in their 4-1 win at Al Fayha. Last month, in Stefano Pioli’s first match as manager, Mane’s slick through ball sliced through the Al Ettifaq defence for Salem Al Najdi to put the visitors 2-0 up in Dammam. Not long after, his cut-back from the byline teed up Talisca to wrap up the 3-0 victory. All four assists to that point had come from Mane’s regular station on the left.

Then, in Matchweek 5 at home to Al Wehda, and having shifted in-field, Mane collected the ball in the centre to set free Angelo for the new signing to float home his opening Al Nassr goal. With it, the hosts were on their way to another victory.

A fifth successive triumph came last weekend, with Mane again pivotal. He struck the second and third goals in the 3-0 win against Al Orobah at Al Awwal Park, getting off the mark for the campaign with a fine surge and finish from an acute angle following a pass from Ronaldo. His second was a beautifully cushioned volley to make safe the result. His first goal of the night was subsequently voted BSF Goal of the Week.

Now up to third in the RSL, Al Nassr’s renaissance has much to do with Mane's. He sits second in chances created for the league through six rounds, with 14, trailing Diaby by four.

As it is, Mane has been directly involved in 50 percent of Al Nassr’s 14 league goals, while his influence can be measured in several other metrics. For example, he has played the fourth most minutes of anyone at the club this season; his 532 minutes is only eight fewer than goalkeeper Bento, who leads the way. Ronaldo lies third, with 533.

That Mane’s thrive has come in his second season speaks to a player not simply more comfortable in the Kingdom’s elite division, but perhaps a motivation to improve on his own 2023-24. That it has come in an overall increasingly competitive competition underlines his current contentment.

“You can see it; the level is impressive now,” Mane tells the Roshn Saudi League. “I'd even say it's been since last year, but especially this year, too, as every team has strengthened in level. I also think it's good for the league and will give more competitiveness and, of course, it's what football fans expect, so it's beneficial for the championship.”

It could be advantageous for Al Nassr, also. A more competitive league means the nine-time Saudi champions must be on their game throughout if they are to dethrone Al Hilal, or whichever team tussles for the title.

It’s an approach Mane hopes will reap reward.

“It's going to be early to talk about winning the league,” he says. “What's certain these days is that we're going to try to move forward match by match. After all, we know what our objective is: it's to be champions… our objective is to win everything, as everyone wants to do.”

“Everyone” includes a few of Mane’s international teammates, some of whom he has joined this week for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying double-header against Malawi. The RSL is home to Al Ahli goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, Al Hilal centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly and Al Shabab forward Habib Diallo.

“We’re all in the Senegalese national team,” says Mane, who scored for Senegal in last month’s 1-1 draw in the Group L opener against Burkina Faso. “Of course, we sometimes talk about the league and many other things.

“As I said, it's a competitive league, so all the big players want to come, like Kalidou, Habib. They're all important players for our [national team] selection, so the fact that they're here is also beneficial for the national team.”

That said, it’s not only contemporary colleagues that Mane rubs shoulders with in the RSL. It’s former ones, too, and especially somebody not too far from Riyadh: Al Ettifaq captain, and former long-time Liverpool teammate, Georginio “Ginni” Wijnaldum.

“Ginni is one of my very good friends,” Mane says. “And [with] Ginni, it’s more than football, because our relationship came naturally. Because, when I was in Liverpool, we came at the same time, and he is this kind of person that once he is in the team he becomes friends with everybody. Everybody likes him.

“He is special, and this is the reason when I was there we’ve been good friends - and he was always in my house. Sometimes he would call me to come to my house, and I’m like, ‘No, not yet. Get out of here!’”

“He always wants to make fun, and I like this about him. He has a good heart; I can speak about him until tomorrow non-stop. He is amazing and we’re still keeping contact. And that’s really important.”