Reigning African player of the year Sadio Mane played an influential role to help his life-time friend Désiré Segbé land a professional contract with Bayern Munich.
Mane and Segbé used to play together decades ago in the streets of Senegal before moving to France where they had a spell with Metz.
However, as it happens sometimes in life, the duo separated when Mane signed for the Austrian-based side Red Bull Salzburg and went on to play for top European clubs including Liverpool, and Southampton.
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Segbé, who has featured for the Benin national team for a number of times, failed to secure a lucrative deal with European clubs.
The 29-year-old forward had short stints with teams that played in the lower divisions in Romania, England, France and Slovakia.
Recently, when Segbe became jobless after parting ways with Dunkerque FC, a French third-tier-side, Mane did not let his friend suffer - he hired him as his personal driver.
Segbé took the job with both hands and has been driving the first ever winner of the Socrates award to and from Bayern Munich training sessions.
Hiring him as a driver was not enough, Mane went on to request the management of Bayern Munich to give his friend a chance of having a trial with the club.
The trial went on successfully and thus Segbé signed a two-year contract with the multiple Bundesliga Champions.
Segbé, who broke the news on his social media platforms is currently part and parcel of the Bayern Munich II squad.
“New challenge for the next 2 years. Happy and proud to be part of this amazing club,” he announced the deal on his Instagram account.
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