Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has described Dean Saunders as an "arrogant idiot" over his comments on Sadio Mane joining Bayern Munich from Liverpool.
Mane completed a move to the Allianz Arena earlier this month after enjoying an incredibly successful six seasons at Anfield in which he won every major honor available to him.
With just 12 months left on his Liverpool contract, the 30-year-old clearly felt it was time for a switch and decided to move to the Allianz Arena on a three-year deal.
However, former Reds forward Saunders told TalkSPORT:
“He’ll get goals. They win 5-0 every week, only one team can win the league. It’s not a challenge. He will get in his armchair, light a cigar up, he’ll play for Bayern in third gear and he’ll coast for two years and ruin the best two years of his life as a footballer. At the end of his career, if he said to you ‘come and look at my trophy cabinet’, the German league winners medal will be right at the back.”
Bayern have won the previous ten Bundesliga titles, but Dortmund's CEO Watzke has hit back at the pundit, as he told Bild (per Sports Bible):
"There are always some arrogant idiots like this one. As a member of the board of Europe’s club association ECA, I know that German football still has a good reputation. The English didn’t win any of the three European Cup titles in the past season!"
Sadio Mane told to be "more respectful" towards Liverpool fans
Former Leeds United forward Noel Whelan was left unimpressed by Mane's antics in the leadup to his departure from Anfield.
Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan proclaimed:
“I think he could have handled it with a little bit more respect. I think Mane was away on international duty telling the Senegal people that they would get what they wanted and that was a move to Bayern Munich. I think he could’ve been a bit more respectful and graceful about the move at the end of his era at Liverpool."
He added:
“I think he’s been a fantastic player and left a legacy behind him at Anfield, and rightly so. I just think sometimes when you’re going about making a move, you don’t need to get involved as a player. It’s down to the two clubs to battle it out."