Sadio Mane might be one of the highest-paid athletes in the world but the Liverpool icon has insisted that material riches hold no meaning to him
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Sadio Mané of Al Nassr with his winners medal after winning the Arab Club Champions Cup Final between Al Hilal and Al Nassr at King Fahd International Stadium on August 12, 2023
Sadio Mane is the second-highest paid player on the Al-Nassr team, only trailing Cristiano Ronaldo
Sadio Mane has the honour of being just one of eight football players ranked among the 50 highest-paid athletes in the world. The 33-year-old's inclusion on Forbes world’s highest-paid Athletes 2025 list on where he ranks 48th out of 50 is certainly due to the mass influx of European-based talent into Saudi Arabia with some clubs offering exorbitant contracts with Mane being the recipient of one of them.
Coupled with his new big-money contract, the Liverpool legend tied the knot with his wife Aisha Mane last year which drew massive attention given his bride was 18 years old when they married.
Even before signing a mammoth deal with Al-Nassr - where he has Cristiano Ronaldo as a team-mate - the Senegal captain made publicly known that he wasn't going to spend his wealth on material objects. Instead, he focussed his efforts on strengthening his hometown.
Staggering Saudi earnings
The winger's 2023 move to Saudi Arabia came after just one season at Bayern Munich and while he said farewell to European football, he did clinch a mind-boggling contract that sees him earn about £644,987 ($833,033), per week while his annual salary tips over at £33million ($43m).
Sadio Mane and Cristiano Ronaldo are colleagues in Saudi Arabia
Sadio Mane and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two highest paid players at Al-Nassr
As if the figures couldn't get higher, according to Mane's earnings on the Forbes list, he banked £40.6m ($54m) in total earnings over the past 12 months.
Of the entire figure, £37.6m ($50m) was earned on the football pitch with Mane cashing in £3m ($4m) from his off-pitch incomes such as endorsements with Adidas, Pepsi, and Vodafone.
Teenage wife
Mane, 33, stunned the footballing world when it was announced he had married Aisha Tamba, 19, in an Islamic arranged ceremony in January 2024. Mane - who was 31 while Aisha was 18 at the time of the wedding - welcomed a baby daughter named Animata with his bride earlier this year.
Her father, Madou Tamba, is a building company chief who is said to have supervised various of Mane's projects in his hometown of Bambali where the footballer has built schools, a hospital, and a stadium.
Sadio Mane and Aisha Mane
The Al-Nassr recently welcomed his first child with his wife Aisha (Image: magvision_evens_officiel/Instagram)
Despite Mane's mammoth Saudi salary, Aisha - speaking through a relative - insisted that she is not interested in her husband's riches and it will not change who she is. She said to the Mail: "I am looking forward to my new life and I know that it will be very different. But I do not feel any pressure because Sadio’s fame and money will not change me. This is not what I’m interested in. I will remain a humble person committed to my faith.
"I’m not used to having so much attention on me because we are a very private family. We don’t like to show off and speak about our personal lives. I am a very down to earth person, this is how I was raised, and nothing will be different just because of this marriage. But I’m very honoured to now be Mrs Mane."
Shunning luxury lifestyle
Prior to his big-money move to Saudi Arabia, Mane was a multi-millionaire and cultivated incredible wealth - a far cry from his extremely humble beginnings in Senegal.
While many who've worked to achieve such a position of financial strength may decide to splurge on material objects, the African star differs from that mentality, previously admitting he has no use for fancy cars and expensive jewellery.
Senagal attacker Sadio Mane
Mane grew up in humble beginnings in Senegal
"Why would I want ten Ferraris, 20 diamond watches, or two planes? What will these objects do for me and for the world?" the Liverpool legend said in 2019, as reported by AS. "I was hungry, and I had to work in the field; I survived hard times, played football barefooted, I did not have an education and many other things, but today with what I earn thanks to football, I can help my people."
Mane has opted to spend his riches on improving the quality of life in his hometown of Bambali, as he explained: "I built schools, a stadium, we provide clothes, shoes, food for people who are in extreme poverty. In addition, I give 70 euros per month to all people in a very poor region of Senegal which contributes to their family economy.
"I do not need to display luxury cars, luxury homes, trips and even planes. I prefer that my people receive a little of what life has given me."