Ex-Liverpool star Sadio Mane has opened up about his relationship with Mohamed Salah and broken his silence on their infamous touchline incident.
Mane and Salah were two of the Premier League’s most feared attackers during their time together at Anfield.
Alongside Roberto Firmino, they formed one of the most effective forward trios under Jürgen Klopp, contributing a remarkable tally of goals season after season.
In fact, Mane and Salah combined for 22 goals, making them one of the most dangerous attacking pairings English football has seen.
However, their partnership was not without its tense moments.
The Senegal international infamously showed his frustration after Salah chose not to pass to him during a match against Burnley in 2019.
Three years later, their time as teammates came to an end and now Sadio Mane has revealed his true feelings about the Egyptian star.
Speaking to Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand on the Rio Meets podcast, Mane said: “[Salah is a] great player. Good player. Great player.”
Ferdinand then pressed him on whether the pair shared a rivalry similar to the one he had with Nemanja Vidić during his playing days.
Mane responded honestly: “Everybody says the same, you know, usually. But it’s not… I don’t think it’s a bad thing.
“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.
“I think though, inside the pitch, you can see sometimes he passes to me, sometimes he doesn’t pass to me. But, you know, only Bobby was there to share the ball. Sometimes [it was] like this…”
On the Burnley incident, Mane said: “I still remember one game when I was really, really angry because he didn’t pass me, he should pass to 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?’ and I said: ‘Okay, 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.”
Mane continued: “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 have become even closer. And sometimes it happens, but we just… as a striker, usually when you see the ball, you don’t see nobody. So for me, he didn’t do it personally.
“He just wants to score, score, score. And then I was talking: ‘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’m here. I can help you because I don’t have this problem. Me, I’ll help you more.”
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