“It feels good to be back with the team”
Amadou Haidara has returned from the Africa Cup of Nations | After training individually on Tuesday, he rejoined team training the following day | Mali international speaks about his experiences at the tournament, the clash with FC Bayern and transfer rumours over the past few weeks
After training with the team for the first time in 2022 on Wednesday, midfielder Amadou Haidara spoke to the media about the Africa Cup of Nations and Leipzig's upcoming games.
Amadou Haidara on...
...the Africa Cup of Nations:
- "My Mali teammates and I are always proud to be on international duty, so this tournament was a great experience, even if we went out early on in the knockouts. With the greatest respect to our opponents, we were slightly surprised to lose on penalties. We had a good chance to reach the next round and we desperately wanted to do that. We have to remember that we’re a young team, which means that we’ll learn from this and improve. Our World Cup qualifiers are just around the corner.”
...this heavy workload:
- "I’m not used to playing a major international tournament during a season and coming back to my club having missed the start of the second half of the season. Nevertheless, I was proud to be representing my country and I’ll deal with this professionally. I feel fit enough and strong enough to deal with this workload. Of course though, I spoke to the coaching team about this beforehand. I’m happy to be back in Leipzig now and I’m really proud of the team’s performances.”
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...the upcoming game in Munich:
- "Playing against FC Bayern is always a massive challenge. You can’t go into a game like this with fear though. We know what they’ve already achieved and the kind of amazing players they have in their squad. We have lots of respect for them, but we won’t be scared of them! Our physicality will be an important factor on Saturday. We will have to ready physically and mentally to deal with their strengths. We will give our all and do our best. It will be tough, but we will get our chances and we have to take them!”
...the first training session back with the team:
- "I completed my first training session of the year with the team today. I enjoyed it and it felt really good. The coach will be the only one to decide if I start at Bayern. If I do begin the game, I’ll give my all to help the team during this difficult away fixture.”
Haidara at RB Leipzig
...a move to England:
- “I heard about the rumours of me moving to the Premier League. As soon as the transfer window opens, people begin to speculate about possible transfers. The Premier League is somewhere that a lot of players want to move to to show off their abilities. I want to make it clear that I’m really happy here at RB Leipzig and I’m happy to be playing for this club. I was given a chance here, and anyway, I’ve got several years left on my contract. Why should I want to end this great partnership early? I want to continue reaching our goals here and continue developing. I work hard to achieve that every day!”