“I had just been appointed as the new national team coach of Mali and in my first squad, in September 2024, Mamadou was part of it.“I remember Yves Bissouma asked questions of the new guys and said, ‘Which position do you prefer?’ Mamadou replied, ‘Your position’. So it showed a lot of confidence and belief.”Tom Saintfiet, who stepped down as Mali head coach in April after two years in the role, is sharing his memories of managing Mamadou Sangare with The Athletic.Sangare, 24 years old and one of the standout players in Ligue 1 last season, will play in the Premier League in 2026-27 after securing a €48million (£41.1m) move to Brentford — a club-record fee for the West London side.(Franck Fife/Getty Images)“He’s an intelligent player, he has skills, he can play well under pressure, he is strong in ball recoveries and very smart in possession, he is a complete player,” adds Saintfiet, who has managed no fewer than 12 different national teams.“He is a fantastic human being and a very humble guy. He’s a very serious professional and focused on his job. Sometimes I played him out of position but he always did what was asked of him to help me, and help the team. He never has any attitude problems.“He is the new star, the new diamond, of football in Mali. People are very proud of him and he can be an example to a lot of other people.”Sangare, who was born in the Malian capital of Bamako, began his football journey at Yeelen Olympique, a club renowned for developing some of the country’s brightest young talents and one that counts former West Ham and Tottenham striker Frederic Kanoute as an ambassador.At Yeelen Olympique, Sangare was known as ‘gaucher’ — which translates as ‘lefty’ or ‘left-footed’.In his final season at Yeelen Olympique, the club finished as runners-up in the Malian Premiere Division, and by September 2020 his performances had seen him secure a move to Austrian side RB Salzburg on a five-year contract.