Liverpool denied Sadio Mane reunion as Cristiano Ronaldo gets new partner in …

Liverpool will be denied an emotional reunion with Sadio Mane in Singapore by a matter of days. The Reds take on Bayern Munich in a pre-season friendly at the 52,000-seater Singapore National Stadium on Wednesday (August 2) but Mane will have already left the German club by then.

Mane only left Liverpool to join the Bundesliga giants 12 months ago in a deal worth £27million rising to £35m. The 31-year-old produced 12 goals and six assists in 38 outings, despite having scored 23 times in his final Premier League season the year before.

The Senegalese attacker struggled to adjust to playing for Bayern under either Julian Nagelsmann or Thomas Tuchel and also had a fiery punch-up with Leroy Sane after a Champions League loss against Manchester City. He is now headed to Saudi Arabia imminently.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reported on Friday that Mane was in ‘advanced’ talks with Al Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo’s club, and that a deal was ‘getting closer’. Sky Sport Germany added that the formalities should be completed ‘in the next few days’. It is understood an agreement is now in place and a medical will be undertaken in a matter of days.

As such, Mane will miss out on a reunion with his former Liverpool team-mates out in the Far East. Bayern fly to Singapore on Sunday but Mane will be heading to the Middle East in the next few days to conclude a switch to Al Nassr.

Mane had previously vowed that he is Liverpool’s ‘No 1 fan’ when leaving the club last summer but while he would love to meet Jurgen Klopp and his squad again, Al Nassr wanted to get a deal done as fast as possible.

That’s because the new Saudi Pro League season begins on August 14 with Ronaldo and co starting their season against Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq, who have just snared Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson. Mane will at least reunite with the two ex-Liverpool captains on that evening.

Al Nassr are expected to pay around £34m to buy Mane, who will earn the same sum per season in a handsome contract with the Riyadh outfit. Ronaldo earns an estimated £171m a year at the club who have also this summer signed Seko Fofana from Lens, Alex Telles from Manchester United and Marcelo Brozovic from Inter Milan.

Mane would be Ronaldo’s new attacking partner in crime as Al Nassr look to right the wrongs of the 2022-23 season. They lost out on the league title to Al-Ittihad, finishing five points behind their Saudi Pro League rivals.

Al-Ittihad have since signed Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Jota and will soon unveil Liverpool midfielder Fabinho as their latest big-name arrival, giving Mane another familiar face to bump into in Saudi Arabia. And Ronaldo will hope Mane can rediscover the heights he hit at Anfield when he links up with him at Al-Awwal Park as they look to usurp Al-Ittihad and their other main PIF-owned rivals Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli.