Mohamed Salah has revealed that tension existed between himself and Sadio Mane during their time together at Liverpool.
Upon Jurgen Klopp’s arrival on Merseyside in 2015, the former Borussia Dortmund boss immediately set about a significant restructure of the squad he inherited.
Key to that rebuild were both Mane and Salah, arriving in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and the pair would go on to enjoy glittering success alongside Roberto Firmino as one of the most feared front threes in football.
However, despite collecting a slew of honours together, reports have consistently suggested that Salah and Mane endured a decidedly frosty relationship.
In a recent interview Salah addressed the speculation for the first time, admitting that despite their chemistry on the pitch, that their relationship had remained strictly professional.
‘Yes, there was tension with Sadio,’ the Liverpool talisman told L’Equipe.
‘Mind you, we were professional until the end, I don’t think it affected the team. It’s human to want more, I understand that, he’s a competitor.
‘Off the pitch, we weren’t very close, but we always respected each other.’
A book published last year claimed that the relationship between the two continually deteriorated during their time playing together, with an apparent feeling from Mane that his team-mate was ‘selfish’.
Speaking on the accusation, Salah insisted that he is not interested in speculation but did point out that he had consistently served as a provider during his time playing with Mane.
‘I don’t care. People can think what they want, it’s their right,’ he continued.
‘But I invite everyone to note that the person who provided Mané with the most assists is me.
‘We can look at the facts, but it’s obviously easier to throw out phrases like that; it makes the headlines, I know how it works.
‘As long as it remains within the limits of respect, that’s fine with me. But that doesn’t mean that this opinion is true. At the end of the day, I know what I did, and my conscience is clear.’
Interestingly, one of the first pundits to pick up on a potential rift between the two players was Michael Owen, who was widely derided for his comments at the time.
In 2021 the former Liverpool striker claimed that Mane was intentionally avoiding being brought down inside the box to avoid offering Salah any further opportunity to increase his goal tally from the penalty spot.
He explained at the time: ‘I just wonder, and it might be a little bit of devious thoughts creeping into my head, Mo Salah is the penalty taker in this team, and if he (Mane) thinks he’s getting a chance to score he thinks, “well I’m going to score, if I don’t stay on my feet, Mo Salah’s going to get another penalty.”
‘These players have been going for the Golden Boot for the past couple of seasons.
‘It might be a wild sort of theory, but the competitive nature of him and Mo Salah… we’ve seen them not passing to each other when one of them is in a much better position to the other.
‘We’re seeing a little bit of selfishness, we’re seeing a little bit of disgruntled behaviour – Mo Salah shaking his head (when he was subbed off).
‘I just think a couple of times there, I’ve seen Mane go down for those kind of opportunities… and (to not do it) two games on the spin? It just made me think a little bit.’
Owen isn’t the only former Reds star to levy an accusation of selfishness towards Salah.
Following a bust-up between the Egypt international and departing boss Klopp after a 2-2 draw with West Ham last year Souness claimed on the Three Up Front podcast, that Salah had an ‘exceptionally large opinion of himself.’
He said: ”I think the situation with Jurgen Klopp was a reaction to only being brought on with 10 minutes to go – it was more Salah than it was Klopp in that confrontation.
‘Salah is the most selfish player I have ever witnessed. Even prior to that game, whenever Klopp takes him off, he is never happy about it.’
‘That is what you want from your players, if you take them off on two goals, they should want to stay on to score a third. When Sadio Mane was there they’d fall out all the time.’
Mane would ultimately depart Liverpool in the summer of 2022 following a disappointing run-in that saw the club claim both domestic cup competitions after being on course for an unprecedented quadruple.
More to follow
