Mane has been in scintillating form on the football pitch across the past year, so much so that he scooped second place in the Ballon d’Or.
However, it’s his impact off the pitch which is having the most profound effect.
As reported by The Liverpool Echo, Mane has transformed his home village of Bambali to the point where it is now nearly a town.
The village, which has an estimated population of 2,000 inhabitants, was lacking any real infrastructure before Mane invested in the area.
Now, the Senegalese star has built a public hospital and maternity unit at the expense of £455,000.
The inclusion of a maternity unit is particularly important, with the mortality rate in Senegal extremely high at 315 deaths per 100,000 births. That’s nearly 30x higher compared to the UK, which has 13.4 per 100,000.
Mane has also spent £250,000 on funding a free-to-attend secondary school in the area and provided laptops for the best-performing students, as an added incentive to try their hardest.
A petrol station has been built, a post office is under construction, and he gives $70 per month to each family in the village as a way of supporting them.
Finally, Mane has installed a 4G internet connection to better improve connectivity between isolated areas of rural Senegal.
Sadio Mané pictured winning the first ever Socrates Award. It is awarded to players on their efforts in helping tackling social issues. Congratulations to him. A great player, a great human being. pic.twitter.com/RE77zuzt6n
— DaveOCKOP (@DaveOCKOP) October 17, 2022
It’s really no surprise the Liverpool legend is one of the most loved footballers on planet earth. He’s practically hailed a saint in his homeland and based on his generosity, so he should be.
Despite his fame and fortune, one thing fans have always admired about Mane is his humble nature.
And that was on display once again on Monday evening when he accepted the Socrates award.
“First of all, I want to say good evening, everybody,” Mane said to the crowd.
“Myself, I am really happy to be part of you guys tonight. Of course, as you say, sometimes I am a little shy to talk about it, but I’m really happy to do what I can for my people and to make things better.”
