Sadio Mane Reveals Reason Behind Decision to Pick Number 17 Shirt at Bayern Munich

• Mane revealed he chose the number 17 shirt at Bayern because it was the most appealing of the available options
• The 30-year old previously wore the number 10 shirt at Liverpool
• He could make his debut for his new side as early as July 18 in a pre-season friendly

Sadio Mane recently revealed the motivation behind taking up the number 17 shirt at Bayern Munich.

Mane, 30, recently completed a stunning £35million move to the Allianz Arena, bringing an end to a successful six-year spell as a Liverpool player.

Despite interest from Real Madrid and Paris Saint Germain, Mane decided to join the German giants, signing a three-year deal with the Bavarians.

It has since been confirmed that he would be wearing the number 17 shirt.

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On why he picked that specific shirt number, the 2022 AFCON winner told the Bayern website:

"I picked out 17 from the free jersey numbers at FC Bayern and aim to celebrate many successes with my team and this number,"

"Now I'm really looking forward to starting preparations for the season with my new teammates very soon."

Past players that have donned the number 17 shirt at Bayern include ex-captain Mark van Bommel, Christian Ziege and Thorsten Fink.

At Liverpool, Mane famously wore the number 10 shirt, mainly associated with attackers who support the main striker. Prior to that, he wore number 19 ffrom 2016 to 2018.

Mane’s potential debut for Bayern

It might not take too long for fans to see Sadio Mane in action for his new club as he could feature as early as on July 18 when Bayern take on a friendly against DC United.

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His first competitive match is likely to be in the Supercup against current DFB Cup holders RB Leipzig.

Bayern will then host Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga six days later.

Sane’s dad offers Mane number 10 shirt

Elsewhere, Sports Brief reported of how Leroy Sane’s father’s willingness to have Sane surrender the number 10 shirt to Mane.

Souleymane Sane was speaking to Radio Futurs Media:

“Sadio Mane is known for the number 10 at Liverpool and the national team – while at Bayern my son wears it.

If Sadio wants the number 10, I'm certain there would be no problem. Leroy to give it to him. “