Mane's epic response to Salah after beating him to Player of the Year award

19 November 2023 , 06:15

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Mane's epic response to Salah after beating him to Player of the Year award

Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah enjoyed great success at Liverpool as part of a formidable frontline, helping the Reds win the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.

As part of their success, both Mane and Salah also won a host of individual honours including the African Player of the Year award which is voted on by national team captains, head coaches and technical directors from each member of the Confederation of African Football.

Salah won the award in 2017 and 2018 with Mane finishing second both years, before the Senegal star pipped his teammate to the honour in 2019. And when Salah congratulated him on his win, Mane gave a brilliant response.

Speaking to BT Sport in 2020, Mane recalled: " He said 'Congratulations my friend, you deserved it. I said to him 'Yeah, I know'." Mane also won the award for a second time in 2022 after captaining Senegal to victory in the Africa Cup of Nations, beating Salah's Egypt on penalties in the final.

During their time as teammates at Liverpool, the pair appeared to enjoy healthy competition but they were notably involved in a spat in 2019 with Mane venting his frustration at Salah for not assisting him in a 3-0 win over Burnley.

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And fellow forward Roberto Firmino has since revealed in his autobiography, Si Senor: My Liverpool Years, that Mane and Salah were "never best friends". Firmino wrote: "I knew those guys very well, maybe better than anyone.

Sadio Mane had a brilliant response when Mohamed Salah congratulated him on winning the African Player of the Year award in 2019 (KHALED ELFIQI/EPA-EFE/REX)

"It was me out there on the field, right in the middle of them. I saw first-hand the looks, the grimaces, the body language, the dissatisfaction when one was mad at the other. I could feel it. I was the link between them in our attacking play and the firefighter in those moments.

"They were never best friends; each kept himself to himself. It was rare to see the two of them talking and I'm not sure if that had to do with the Egypt–Senegal rivalry in African competitions. I truly don't know. But they also never stopped talking, never severed ties. They always acted with the utmost professionalism.

"I never took sides. That's why they love me: I always passed the ball to both; my preference was for the team's victory. Many focus on what I brought to the attacking trio in tactical terms, but perhaps just as important was the human element: my role as peacemaker, unifier."

Matthew Cooper