Report: Bayern Munich not happy with Senegal taking an injured Sadio Mane to the World Cup (Updated)

On Tuesday, Sadio Mane suffered an injury in the first half of the game between Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen, which saw him subbed off for Leroy Sane. The next day, reports from L’Equipe, Bild, and multiple other outlets reported that the Senegal winger was completely ruled out for the World Cup. Bayern, for their part, released an official statement that refused to confirm the duration of the injury, but said that they were in contact with the Senegal Football Federation over the matter.

Since then, Senegal have officially called up Sadio Mane to play at the World Cup. Naturally, Bayern don’t seem too pleased about this:

If the original reports of a tendon injury are correct, then Mane could be looking at a weeks-long recovery process in order to get back to full fitness. Ordinarily, that would rule anyone out of the World Cup, but Senegal’s situation is a bit special.

Mane is THE guy for his country, like Leo Messi is for Argentina. Having him along is absolutely critical to their success. This is also likely to be Mane’s last World Cup and one final chance to represent his country on the world’s biggest stage. If there’s even a tiny chance that he could make it, he will go. Injured or not, he’s going to be there. And if that causes him to miss the rest of the season for his club because he aggravated his injury, then that’s how it’ll have to be.

Not fun for Bayern, but it is what it is.

Update

Based on what Julian Nagelsmann said in his press conference and this tweet from Florian Plettenberg, Mane remains in Munich for now to continue his recovery.