Bayern Munich winger Sadio Mane on Wednesday opened up about punching his fellow teammate Leroy Sane last season.
Mane, 31, lashed out at his teammate, punching him in the face following a 3-0 defeat against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) in April.
The winger was handed out a €500,000 fine and a one-game ban by the club’s management.
“This kind of thing can happen. It happened. We were able to solve this small problem,” Said Mane on Senegalese television station 2sTV when asked about his bust-up with Sane.
“Sometimes it's good to solve problems, but maybe not in this way. It's behind us now. We'll try to fight together to help the club achieve its goals next season.
“I'm on vacation with the family. It was a very complicated season, it happens. It wasn't a surprise, I expected things to be a bit complicated. It's normal.
“I love challenges, and Bayern is a big challenge. It's up to me to do everything to meet this challenge.”
Mane, who joined the German club from Liverpool in 2022 for a €32 million fee, has struggled to make an impact scoring only scoring 12 goals in 38 matches and is reportedly given a green light by the manager Thomas Tuchel to leave.
The Senegalese footballer has also received interest from Saudi club Al-Ettifaq after he showed a glimpse of his former version after scoring two goals in a 4-2 win against Brazil in a friendly.
The 31-year-old guided Liverpool to a UCL victory in 2018/19 as he was crucial throughout the campaign. He also won the Premier League (PL) with his former team in 2020 and was the top-scorer of the league with 22 goals in the 2018/19 season.
He has also been named the African Footballer of the Year in 2019 and 2022.
The 31-year-old currently holds the record for the fastest hat-trick in PL history which came within two minutes and 56 seconds in a 6-1 victory against Aston Villa in the 2014/15 season.