Senegal’s Sadio Mane has reportedly been ruled out of the World Cup after limping out of Bayern Munich’s clash against Werder Bremen with a tendon injury.
The former Liverpool forward was taken off just 20 minutes into Bayern’s 6-1 win over Bremen on Tuesday night – leading to huge fears about his fitness for Qatar just weeks before the tournament officially kicks off.
And according to L’Equipe, he will play no part in the competition for Senegal, dealing his nation a massive blow as they prepare to be without their talisman for their group stage against the Netherlands, Ecuador and hosts Qatar.
Mane is believed to have suffered a tendon injury, L’Equipe adds, and is set for ‘several weeks out’, handing his national team coach Aliou Cisse a major headache just days before announcing his World Cup squad.
His Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann said the player would have an X-ray to determine the extent of the injury after initially saying he had taken a blow to his tibia – and that he was hopeful it was ‘not a big injury’.
‘He took a knock to the head of his tibia,’ he said. ‘It’s always uncomfortable. He has to have an X-ray. I hope nothing is wrong.
‘I didn’t see him after the game, I hope it’s not a big injury. But I don’t know at the moment’, the Bayern boss continued. ‘We’ll see tomorrow and then give an update.’
Just 15 minutes into their encounter with Werder Bremen the 30-year-old went doing holding his right leg and signalled for Bayern’s medical team to come onto the pitch.
It’s clear that Nagelsmann didn’t want to risk furthering Mane’s injury and withdrew the Senegal star for former Manchester City winger Leroy Sane.
Mane’s absence will be felt massively in the Senegal camp – the man who has picked up 93 caps for his country and scored 34 times.
He was instrumental for the team on their way to winning this year’s Africa Cup of Nations as they beat Egypt on penalties in the final – having scored four goals during the tournament.
Mane – who joined Bayern from Liverpool for £35million in the summer – has been excelling for his club during his first season in Germany.
He’s scored 11 goals in 23 appearances in all competitions, laying on four assists.
