Borussia Dortmund boss slams "arrogant idiots" in reaction to Mane comments

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has hit back at criticism of Sadio Mane's decision to move to the Bundesliga.

Former Liverpool forward Dean Saunders questioned the move, accusing Mane of wasting his best years by leaving the Premier League. The Senegal international has spent six years at Anfield, winning everything there is to win in the club game, but opted to join Bayern in a deal worth up to £35.1m.

"I want to achieve a lot with this club, in Europe too," Mane said after joining the 2020 Champions League winners. And, despite Saunders' claims, Watzke has restated the strength of the Bundesliga and the recent failings of Premier League clubs on the continent.

"There are always some arrogant idiots like this one," Watzke told Bild after Saunders' comments. "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!" he continued. Indeed, Liverpool were the only English team to reach any of the finals, losing to Real Madrid.

The Bundesliga saw one of its sides win the Europa League last term, with Eintracht Frankfurt eliminating Barcelona and West Ham United before beating Rangers in the final. In the Europa Conference League, meanwhile, neither England nor Germany had a team in the final.

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"He'll get goals," Saunders previously told talkSPORT. "They [Bayern] 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."

Since joining Liverpool from Southampton in 2016, Mane scored 120 goals in 269 appearances for the Reds. 90 of those came in the Premier League, including 18 in the 2019-20 season as Jurgen Klopp's team won the title by a margin of 18 points.

Liverpool have already restocked in attack as they attempt to adapt to the loss of the 30-year-old. Luis Diaz joined from Porto in January, before the Reds further strengthened with the summer signing of Darwin Nunez from Benfica. However, question marks still remain over the future of Mohamed Salah. Last season's top scorer is out of contract at the end of the 2022-23 season, with terms over an extension yet to be agreed with the Egypt international.