Remembering the promise Jurgen Klopp made Mohamed Salah at expense of Sadio Mane

24 February 2024 , 10:00

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Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool enjoyed great success with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane (Image: Getty Images)

Mohamed Salah was "worried" before he joined Liverpool due to Sadio Mane playing in his favoured position on the right wing.

However, manager Jurgen Klopp promised Salah he would play him on the right and Mane was switched to the left, where he initially had to compete with Philippe Coutinho before the Brazilian's big money move to Barcelona in 2018.

"When I was about to sign for Liverpool, I was worried because he [Mane] was playing in my position and that made me worry about playing more often, but Klopp personally explained to me that Mane will play on the other side," Salah revealed in an interview with beIN SPORTS in 2020.

"It wasn't a fight; everyone wants to help Liverpool to win and support other team mates. Sometimes we get angry in the match but that finished immediately and the game after we assisted each other and helped Liverpool with our goals and assists."

Although there "wasn't a fight" over which position Salah and Mane would play, fellow forward Roberto Firmino revealed in his autobiography that the pair were "never best friends" and that he had to act as the "peacemaker" between them.

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"I knew those guys very well, maybe better than anyone," Firmino wrote. "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.

Salah, Mane and Roberto Firmino were a prolific attacking trio at Anfield (REUTERS)

"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."

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Matthew Cooper