Jurgen Klopp has not told Sadio Mane he is leaving Liverpool after Philippe Coutinho switched roles with the signing of Mohamed Salah.When Mane joined Liverpool from Southampton in 2016, he played on the right wing for most of the season, while Coutinho mainly played on the left.
However, the following year, Salah moved from Roma and became Klopp’s first-choice defender.This moved Mane to the left and although the Brazilian played a bigger role that season, he and Coutinho were direct competitors. Mane’s form has dipped since the position switch and Klopp held private talks with Mane about his future after Liverpool drew 1-1 with local rivals Everton last December.
In that game, Mane missed a golden opportunity to give Liverpool victory and Klopp tried to put a lot of confidence in the side but refused to let him know that Coutinho was close to a move to Barcelona. “He believed in me and said at the time he would play until I got tired,” Mane told the Liverpool Echo in 2020. “But I told him I wanted to play. Klopp said the squad needs to change.”And also the fact that Coutinho didn’t want to tell me straight away that he was leaving.” Less than a month after negotiations ended, Coutinho completed a move to Barcelona for a fee of £142 million. After his departure, Mane began to regain his form, starting all but one of Liverpool’s remaining games that season.
Mane, along with Salah and Roberto Firmino, was part of the Liverpool attacking team that won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup and moved to Bayern Munich in 2022. However, he played just one season for Bayern before joining Saudi Arabian Pro League club Al Nasr this summer, where he has now linked up with Cristiano Ronaldo, Aymeric Laporte and Marcelo Brozovic.
Following fresh criticism of the league following Jordan Henderson’s early departure from Al Etti Park, Mane told reporters at the Africa Cup of Nations: “If you’re not playing in Europe, it’s not about you. .” are you feeling alright. I’m not there as a footballer.”Fortunately, the race in Saudi Arabia is a very good race that the whole world pays attention to, so I can tell you that it’s more important to do your best and enjoy every moment. “I don’t care about the rest.”
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