There’s a new Mané in action in the Premier League, as Wolverhampton Wolves wonderkid Mateus Mané made his top flight debut against Brighton & Hove Albion, becoming the club’s youngest Premier League debutant.
Liverpool great Sadio Mané’s English legacy is unlikely to be matched by the youngster, but his namesake’s cameo this weekend suggests that he too may have the talent to become one of the league’s star attractions in the years to come.
At 17 years, seven months and 13 days, Mané became the youngest Wolves player to feature for the club in the top tier during the Prem era. He broke the previous record, set by Anthony Forde, 10 days after his 18th birthday, against Chelsea in 2011.
Born in Portugal to parents of Guinea-Bissan origin, the attacker moved to England in 2016 and joined the academy of then-third-tier Rochdale as a child, before moving on to Premier League Wolves when he reached 16.
The Old Gold have offered a clear route to first-team minutes for academy graduates in recent years, with African prospects likes of Tawanda Chirewa and Leon Chiwome getting Prem action after refining their game in the academy.
Both, like Mané, were recruited from the lower leagues earlier in their youth journey, before benefiting from the tutelage of Academy Manager Jonathan Hunter-Barrett in the West Midlands.
Mané’s arrival at Molineux in March last year signalled a leap from non-league to the Premier League, and the youngster surely didn’t expect to be making his top flight debut just over a year after his arrival, particularly considering he never made an appearance for Rochdale’s seniors.
However, with Jorgen Strand Larsen a doubt ahead of the weekend, and Sara Kalajdzic absent with injury, the 17-year-old, who plays for England’s U18 side, was drafted into Vitor Pereira’s plans for the visit of Brighton.
This wasn’t the first time that the teen was called into action for Wolves’ seniors – he made the matchday squad against Fulham in February having been invited to train with the first-team squad – but Mané finally got a taste of Prem action when he was introduced as an 89th-minute substitute for André.
By this point, the contest had essentially got away from the hosts, with Danny Welbeck‘s penalty opener being followed up by Brajan Gruda‘s 85th-minute strike following fine work by Cote d’Ivoire’s Simon Adingra.
Wolves were unlikely to salvage anything at this point, but Pereira, whose objective of avoiding relegation was secured weeks ago, sniffed an opportunity to give one of his most exciting talents a senior debut.
No-one has made a top division appearance for the club at a younger age since 1984, as he joins the rarefied ranks of Old Gold greats – alongside the likes of Jimmy Mullen, Peter Broadbent, and Robbie Keane – to have featured at 17 or younger.
Mané looked comfortable, winning a header to continue an attacking move, while also making a handful of touches as a low-key contest came to a close.
However, there’ll be much more to come from this precocious talent, with Pereira insisting he ‘didn’t care’ about the attacker’s slender years while tipping him for big things next term.
“I’m sure he’ll be a surprise in England, in this league,” the Portuguese head coach told journalists after the match. “He’s a player with talent and for sure next season he’ll be in the first team with us.
“He’s not only a talent, he’s a worker, and in that moment of the game it was not just to give him the minutes, it was because I think he can do something because he’s special.”
Mané’s strength was on show during his brief showing, while he also looked bright and made intelligent, proactive off-the-ball runs, particularly down the left channel. A brief sample size, of course, but a glimpse of the youngster’s maturity.
The youngster paid tribute to those who have helped him reach this point of his development during an emotional social post shared in the aftermath of his debut.
“Firstly, I’d like to thank God for this special moment for me, and my family for allowing me to make my Wolves Premier League debut,” he posted on his @mateus.mane11 Instagram handle.
“Secondly, I’d like to thank the manager Vitor, [assistant manager] Luis [Miguel] and [first-team coach] André [Monteiro] for giving me this opportunity, and also my teammates and everyone at the academy for helping me to get this point.
“Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone at Rochdale for the part they played in my journey.”
While Wolves have provided talented youngsters with a route to Prem minutes, how many in recent years have genuinely gone on to establish themselves in the top flight?
Perhaps Morgan Gibbs-White, currently at Nottingham Forest and on the radar of Manchester City, is a rare exception, with the majority ultimately being sold down the pyramid as Wolves have preferred to recruit more ready-made options for the senior squad.
At club level, the forward should prosper under a head coach who clearly believes in him wholeheartedly. The Portuguese coach has a decent track record at developing players as well, with James Rodríguez – notably – taking his game to new heights while working with the new Wolves head coach at FC Porto.
Eliaquim Mangara, Arda Güler and the late Christian Atsu would be other relevant examples of youngsters who prospered under the 56-year-old.
Wolves’ season isn’t completely over, they could still finish anywhere from 13th to 17th, but with neither relegation nor European qualification on the cards, Pereira should have ample opportunity to give Mané further minutes across their two outstanding fixtures.
The next step for Mané, who was named in The Guardian’s Next Generation list to celebrate the best young players in the game in 2024, is to sign professional terms, with the teenager still in the process of undertaking his two-year scholarship with the club.
He may also have a decision to make on his international future as, while he’s represented England at U-18 level, there’s been interest from Portugal, while Mané is also eligible for Guinea-Bissau via his ancestry.
He’s a long way behind his namesake, Liverpool great Sadio Mané, of course, but at least in Pereira, he has a patron who is confident he can reach the top.