Khaberni - Player Sadio Mané delivered an unexpected shock to Mohamed Salah regarding his choices for the best players he has played with.
The Senegalese player ignored the name of the Egyptian star, preferring to mention Virgil van Dijk, Kalidou Koulibaly, Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, and Cristiano Ronaldo, reopening the debate once again about the nature of the relationship between the duo during their successful time at Liverpool.
Mané's statements came in the context of a lengthy podcast with former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand, where he revealed intricate details of his experience with Mohamed Salah both on and off the pitch, indicating that the nature of strikers can create momentary tension but does not affect the human bonds between teammates.
Mané said that all the talk around there being keen competition between him and Salah did not reflect the reality of their relationship, explaining that he is naturally a calm person and tends to build good relationships with everyone in the dressing room. He considered that competition on the field is natural, but it never turned into a personal dispute. He said that Salah is one of the players who are naturally good-natured, and that they always communicated despite having moments that provoke emotion during matches.
Mané pointed out that there were sometimes situations related to not passing the ball, explaining that this happened in both directions, and that the nature of a striker makes him focus on scoring sometimes without considering other options. He explained that Roberto Firmino was more inclined to distribute the ball between them, while Salah's desire to score led him to try and finish the attack himself. Mané recounted a famous incident where he felt very angry after one of the matches because Salah did not pass the ball to him in a moment he believed could have surely resulted in a goal.
He added that Salah did not let the situation go without clarification, as he came to him the next day and asked if he was still upset, then explained that he did not deliberately ignore him and that he simply did not see him during the attack due to the fast pace of the play and his desire to shoot. Mané confirmed that he quickly understood the situation, and that the anger was born from his desire to see the stars cooperate more on the field for the benefit of the team.
Mané revealed that the incident was a positive turning point in their relationship, where communication between them became clearer and mutual trust grew, noting that he told Salah that he could help him become the team's top scorer because he does not have the same obsession with scoring, and that he's ready to do that on the field. Mané considered that Salah's attacking personality makes him focus a lot on the goal, which he sees as natural for a player always striving to achieve high individual scores.
