Mo Salah and Sadio Mane had 'awkward' relationship at Liverpool due to 'selfish' accusations

Jurgen Klopp reportedly struggled to manage and at because they were constantly in competition with each other.

Salah and Mane will both go down in the Liverpool history books as club legends, having played important roles in the era. Together, the attacking duo helped Liverpool win the , , and Carabao Cup.

Playing alongside Roberto Firmino, Salah and Mane established one of the best front threes in Premier League history. The height of their powers came in the 2019/20 season, when Salah scored 23 goals and Mane 22 goals across all competitions as the Reds lifted the Premier League.

The two seemed to dovetail well on the pitch, but since Mane left Liverpool for in 2022 there have been some signs of bubbling tension behind the scenes. Their rivalry as two of the most prominent African players in the was shown when Mane’s Senegal beat Salah’s Egypt on penalties to win the Africa Cup of Nations in February 2022.

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And a new biography of Salah entitled ‘Chasing Salah’, serialised by the , has laid bare further cracks in their relationship. The book claims that, while they initially got on well during Salah’s first season at Liverpool in 2017/18, their connection turned into jealousy and rivalry over time.

Salah’s prolific goal scoring began to grate on Mane, who reportedly asked the Liverpool staff to work out how many of the Egyptian’s goals had been assisted by him. Mane was also apparently annoyed that Salah got to take penalties when James Milner wasn’t on the pitch, enabling him to pad his tally further.

An unnamed staff member is quoted as saying: “Sadio increasingly saw Mo as a rival.” It is said that, having previously chatted freely with each other in the physio room, they were now actively avoiding each other.

The book points to a particular incident from Liverpool’s 3-0 win over in August 2019 as a flashpoint of Salah’s apparent selfishness. shortly after being ignored by Salah when in a better position in front of goal.

Klopp played down the significance of Mane’s reaction, but reportedly called both players into a meeting the following week to try and diffuse the situation. Yet it is claimed that Salah felt Klopp favoured Mane because the Senegalese forward was his signing, whereas he was insisted on by the Liverpool recruitment team, led by Dave Fallows.

One of the reasons that Mane decided to leave Liverpool for Bayern in the summer of 2022 was his belief that he was undervalued by the club in comparison to Salah. "One of Liverpool's greatest ever players is leaving and we must acknowledge how significant this is,” “He leaves with our gratitude and our love. He leaves with his status among the greats guaranteed.”

It seems as though his words might have appeared hollow to Mane after years of playing second fiddle to Salah.

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