Why Sadio Mané's excellent start in the Bundesliga may not be enough for Bayern
The Senegal international is scoring and assisting more than ever before, but he may never be able to offer Bayern Munich exactly what they need.
Bayern Munich have undoubtedly had an unfortunate start to 2023. Like a terrible nightmare that turned out to be real, the Bavarian giants have seen their team decimated by injuries thanks to the World Cup or, in the case of Manuel Neuer, because of some overly exuberant skiing on his holidays. Either way, Julian Nagelsmann’s team are having to contend with more bruises and broken bones than they would have hoped for.
However, unlike their main rivals across Europe, Bayern are unlikely to spend big in the January transfer window to try and accommodate for these absentees. The club may pick up a Borussia Monchengladbach goalkeeper here or an old Ajax defender there, but they are at the end of the day still a Bundesliga club. And Bundesliga clubs rarely like to make signings in January unless they absolutely need to.
Instead, Nagelsmann will likely be tasked with getting even more from a Bayern squad that impressed at times in the Hinrunde (minus one or two matchdays) and while much of the off-the-field focus has been on his ailing defenders, the German head coach will know fine well that it is his front line that will make or break the second half of the season. And one player in particular: Sadio Mané.
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