It sounds like something out of a football fairy tale. Since Sadio Mané was presented as the new Bayern star, his best friend, Désiré Ségbé Azankpo, has also been buzzing around Säbener Strasse.
Every day he drove Mané to training in a black Audi e-tron GT RS with 646 hp, unloaded the star player and sped off once more. Almost nobody knows: the chauffeur is a striker himself.
Ségbé Azankpo, who comes from Benin, went through the same football school “Generation Foot” in Senegal as Mané. The two became best friends there and moved to FC Metz in France together in 2011. Mané broke through but Ségbé Azankpo did not progress beyond the second team.
Now Mané plays at the big FC Bayern. And finally it was noticeable: Ségbé Azankpo no longer drove away following he had unloaded Mané, but watched the Munich secret training sessions together with player manager Johannes Mösmang (30) from the balcony of the office building.
Two-year contract with FC Bayern
The reason, according to the “Bild” with reference to the Senegalese football portal “Taggat”: Ségbé Azankpo has now received a contract with FC Bayern. The portal shows photos of the striker signing the contract and posing in front of the logo.
Mané’s buddy can now prove himself in the Bayern II regional league team, coached by former Bayern star Martin Demichelis (41). He has been given a two-year contract until 2024.
After his time at Metz, Mané moved to Red Bull Salzburg. From then on, Ségbé Azankpo only played for small clubs in France, England, Romania and Slovakia.
And while Mané was playing for the Premier League crown with Liverpool in the 2019/20 season, Ségbé Azankpo was struggling at Oldham in England’s third tier. There he was ridiculed as “one of the worst Oldham strikers of all time” for scoring just four goals in 28 games.
The two always remained friends. Ségbé Azankpo also accompanied his friend to the medical tests and to the signing of the contract in Munich.
“There are people behind them who are hungry”
In an interview with Lookcharms.com earlier this year, Ségbé Azankpo said: «Sadio always had huge ambitions. He always wanted to go as high as possible. He comes from a poor background, like all of us. And we told ourselves that we have to be successful to help our families. There are people behind them who are hungry.”
So now he’s a footballer once more instead of a “chauffeur”. It is speculated that Bayern are signing Ségbé Azankpo primarily to make it easier for his pal to settle down in Germany. (wst)
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