Sadio Mané took part in a football gala match in his native village of Bambali on Tuesday on the same field where he took his first steps as a young footballer.

The gala match was organised by the Liverpool striker himself and involved ex-Senegal internationals and players of the current national team, the newly-crowned champions of Africa. The match was part of the Senegal squad’s tour of the country following their triumph at the African Nations Cups, where Mané played a key role.

Mané was given a hero’s welcome by the people of Bambali, a small village of 2000 inhabitants, after arriving with the AFCON trophy. Despite having played and scored in some of the best stadiums in Europe, Mané did not have any problem playing on the muddy, earthen pitch of his hometown village, to the delight of his fellow-Bambali villagers.

Mané has also funded several infrastructure projects in his native Bambali, including the building of a modern hospital (which also serves 34 other villages in the surrounding area), a school and a supermarket.

According to a tweet from Fabrizio Romano, the Liverpool attacker is edging closer to joining Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich from Liverpool having reached full verbal agreement with the Bundesliga Giants on personal terms.

No doubt, the Senegalese international has been one of the most important members of the Liverpool squad under the management of Jurgen Klopp.