Sadio Mane has lifted the lid on his relationship with Mohamed Salah and explained how the pair settled their well-known disagreement during a Premier League game with Burnley.
Mane, who joined Liverpool in 2016, a year before Salah, formed a prolific front three with the Egyptian and Roberto Firmino.
The trio helped the Reds win several titles, including Champions League, Premier League, FIFA Club World Cup, and UEFA Super Cup.
Mane and Salah’s flashpoint came at Turf Moor in August 2019, when Mane grew frustrated after Salah chose to shoot instead of passing to him.
Mane showed his anger as he was substituted, with Firmino’s post-match smirk later going viral.
Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Mane dismissed any talk of a long-term rift, saying the issue was quickly resolved and ultimately strengthened their relationship.
“Great player. Good player. Great player. Everybody say the same (that there was a rivalry), you know, usually,” he said.
“But it’s not… I don’t think it’s a bad thing.
“And me, I’m someone who is quiet, but I’m friendly with everybody in the team. I’m like this.
“So, I think Mo is also a very nice guy. He’s a nice guy. I think though, inside the pitch, you can see – sometimes he passes me, sometimes he doesn’t pass me; sometimes he passes me, sometimes he doesn’t pass me.
“But, you know, only Bobby was there to share the ball. Sometimes like this…
“And I still remember one game when I was really, really angry because he didn’t pass me, he should pass me.
“I was really, really angry after the game. And the next day, he came to me.
“He wants to talk to me, but he doesn’t know when, how to say. He still thinks I’m angry against him because we didn’t see each other, we went home.
“The next day he came to me. He said, “Can we talk?” I said, “OK, no problem, we go.”
“And he said, “You think I didn’t want to pass you? I didn’t score. Bobby scored.
“But even when I got the ball, I was not thinking or even seeing you to pass. I just got the ball.
“I want to shoot. But I have nothing against you. And honestly, if I could pass you and I saw you, I will do.”
“And this, you know… I said, “No, don’t worry. It passed, it passed. I was angry because I think you could pass me more with your quality.”
“I think since this day we become even closer. And sometimes it happen, but we just… as a striker, because Mo, usually when you see the ball, you don’t see nobody.
“You don’t see nobody. So for me, he didn’t do it personally. He just want to score, score, score.
“And then I was talking, I think, “Mo, I can see you want to be more… I can help you a lot because I know you want to be top scorer.
“You want… I can. Me, I’m here. I can help you because I don’t have this problem. Me, I’ll help you more.”
Sadio Mane left Liverpool in the summer of 2022 to join Bayern Munich.
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