Jurgen klopp, the manager of liverpool, was gratified to have a different perception of sadio mane and sign the reds’ deal for the senegal star. Mane joined liverpool from southampton in 2016 and scored more than 100 goals for the anfield club, putting an end to klopp’s long-awaited premier league title in 2020 while also winning the champions league and the club world cup. It could have been anything but perfect, though. Klopp was enthralled by mane’s performances on the south coast, but he had his reservations about the former red bull salzburg star. Mane left liverpool in 2022 to work with bayern munich before making a high-profile move to al-nassr. All of this was made possible by his liverpool exploits, and mirror football has looked back at the conversations that almost scuppered the era before it even began.
I remember my first encounter with sadio. During the made in senegal documentary about mane, which aired in 2020, klopp said it was in dortmund. “there was a really young man sitting there,” he said. His baseball cap was askew, with the blond streak he still has today. He seemed to be a young rapper just starting out. I thought, ‘i don’t have time for this.’ “back then, our staff was really good. I needed someone who could handle not being a starter at the very start, someone who i could develop. “i’d say i have a pretty positive outlook on people, but was i wrong?” I followed his progress and continued success in salzburg. He just dominated southampton.”
Klopp said signing mane in 2016 was a “win-win” for both men, who wanted to work with one another at the time. Mane scored in the 2018 champions league final against real madrid and scored 26 goals in all competitions the following season, making the reds one better in europe. Mane described klopp as a “very special manager” after his 2019 victory over tottenham in madrid. “he has a lot of attributes and distinctive features, but what struck me the most was that he is a really, really nice guy outside of football.” His human side touched me, and it’s rare to find someone like that in football, especially because of his human side. Mane explained that he’d like to join klopp at dortmund when he was still on salzburg’s roster. “he’s a coach who loves his players, he’s there for them,” he said. “at the same time, he gives them responsibilities.
