Saudi club are desperate to sign £35m former Liverpool player and reunite him with Roberto Firmino

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Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli are pushing hard to complete the signing of former Liverpool attacker Sadio Mane.

Al Ahli announced the arrival of a Reds legend yesterday, as Roberto Firmino joined as a free agent. And now, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano on Twitter, they are ‘insisting’ on reuniting him with another icon from Anfield.

“Understand Saudi clubs are pushing to sign Sadio Mane from Bayern,” says Romano.

“Told Al Ahli are insisting in the last few days as they want to reunite Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane. There’s interest also from other clubs but still waiting to hear for player’s intention.”

So far, Mane has reportedly been keen to stay and turn his disastrous stay in Munich around. But with Bobby now signed and sealed, perhaps Al Ahli will feel they have a trump card to play.

Al Ahli pushing for Liverpool link-up

As galling as it is to see what’s been happening over in Saudi Arabia this summer, this is a move we can kind of get behind.

We’d rather they both stayed on at the top level in Europe, of course. But it would be truly special to see Firmino and Mane back on the same side once again.

With Al Ahli obviously being no threat at all to Liverpool, fans will be able to root for the pair safe in the knowledge that they can’t do it against their old side.

Mane had a really difficult season for Bayern, but the £35m man is still an established threat on his day. Maybe partnering up with the teammate who got the absolute most out of him will help him to rediscover the player he once was.

Clearly though, that isn’t really why any player is heading for Saudi Arabia this summer. Play well, don’t play well, it will be completely and utterly meaningless to the rest of the football world.

For players like Bobby and Sadio, who will soon be 32, there’s not too much hope that bigger teams will come in for them if they put in good performances. It is – to all intents and purposes – the first step to retirement. So, if Mane joins his old mate, he’s got a big decision to make.

Does he stick it out and fight back at the top level of European football? Or does he head of and make a tonne of money in a nascent league while playing with one of his best friends? We’d pick the former, hands down. But what will Sadio decide.