Sadio Mané reveals his Ballon d'Or favorite - It's not a teammate

Created: 10/06/2022 12:03 p.m

By: Caroline Metz

Who is at the top?

Sadio Mané has an opinion on this © IMAGO/Pressefoto Rudel/Robin Rudel

After winning Africa's Footballer of the Year, can Sadio Mané also win the Ballon d'Or?

The Senegalese himself has another player in mind for the award.

Munich – After four unsuccessful games, Sadio Mané is finally back.

There was a lot of discussion about whether the newcomer could not be properly integrated at Bayern.

Mané himself recently admitted that he had some initial difficulties at the new club.

But now he's back with his old qualities.

In the last two matches against Bayer Leverkusen and Viktoria Pilsen he scored one goal each.

In the Bayern dress he comes up with seven goals in total.

Sadio Mané is nominated for the Ballon d'Or

That's why there's even speculation that Mané might take home the Ballon d'Or.

The prize is awarded by the French football magazine

and is considered an extremely prestigious award.

Sadio Mané joins team-mate Joshua Kimmich on the list of nominees published by

in early August .

There is also Mané's predecessor in the Bayern squad, Robert Lewandowski.

Still, the Senegalese doesn't think he will win the prize.

After the Champions League game against Viktoria Pilsen, Mané revealed to Canal+ who he thinks will be the favorite for the Ballon d'Or: "Honestly, I think Karim [Benzema] deserved it this year.

He's had a great season with Real Madrid.

He won the Champions League.

I think he just deserved it, so I'm happy for him."

Benzema fired Real Madrid to the Champions League title with 15 goals last season.

Even at the age of 34, the striker is still among the best in the world.

He has already scored four goals in seven games this season, but is currently struggling with a muscle injury.

Ballon d'Or 2022 nominees

• Trent Alexander Arnold (Liverpool)

• Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)

• João Cancelo (Manchester City)

• Casemiro (Real Madrid / Manchester United)

• Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)

• Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

• Luis Diaz (Liverpool)

• Fabinho (Liverpool)

• Phil Foden (Manchester City)

• Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund / Manchester City)

• Sebastien Haller (Ajax Amsterdam / Borussia Dortmund)

• Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)

• Joshua Kimmich (Bayern)

• Rafael Leao (AC Milan)

• Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern / FC Barcelona)

• Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)

• Mike Maignan (AC Milan)

• Sadio Mané (Liverpool FC / Bayern Munich)

• Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)

• Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

• Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)

• Darwin Núnez (Lisbon Benfica / Liverpool FC)

• Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

• Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea FC / Real Madrid)

• Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

• Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)

• Heung Min Son (Tottenham Hotspur)

• Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

• Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)

• Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina / Juventus Turin)

Mané is concentrating on Bayern

Mané, on the other hand, has already won the award for Africa's footballer of the year and seems to want to concentrate on his work at Bayern.

He emphasized in the interview: "I'm very happy to have scored my first goal in the Champions League for Bayern.

All in all, I'm happy to have contributed to the team's victory."