68 FACE TO FACE
You are great friends with
Mohamed Salah, but when
it comes to awards such
as the African Footballer of Year
you are inevitably up against him.
You’ve finished second to him in
the past two years – does this
create a rivalry between you?
You’d love me to say there is [a rivalry]
wouldn’t you? [laughs]. The media seem
to expect there to be, but I can honestly
say it isn’t even a competition for us. I
think you can see that in our relationship
both on and off the pitch. Everyone is
trying to do all that they can for the
success of Liverpool – it’s not just about
us. We represent the club and the city to
the best of our ability and it’s something
we enjoy. Mo loves Liverpool just like
I do and he’s been sensational since
he joined the club. We just want to win
trophies with this team. That is the
priority. I know other players in the world
have a rivalry going for individual awards,
but for us it isn’t something we think
about too much. If we do talk, we have
a laugh about it and if one of us ends
up winning it is a happy moment. At the
end of it all, the fact we get shortlisted
for any individual awards can only be
good for Liverpool and our countries
because it means we are doing
something right.What would it mean for you
to win the African Footballer
of the Year award at some
point in your career, though?
It would be a huge honour. I try not to
focus on individual accolades, but when
I think back to my childhood in Senegal I
remember El Hadji Diouf winning it twice
[in 2001 and 2002] and he was one
of my big heroes. If I could follow in his
footsteps and win it I would be so proud.Do you feel like you have some
unfinished business in the Africa
Cup of Nations? Injury affected you
in 2015 and you missed a penalty in
the quarter-final shootout in 2017...
Of course. In 2015 I was halfway
through the season with Southampton
and I injured my calf. When I went toFEBRUARY 2019: The Liverpool forward reflects on his team-mates,
the Premier League title race and his international aspirations
Interview by Paul Hassall
the tournament I was not100 per
cent. Two years later I started well in
the group stage but it didn’t end well
for me personally with the penalty.
That is football.
Hopefully, this year it will be different
because the Nations Cup is special to
me. Senegal reached the final in 2002
and that is a big memory for me as
a kid. That was the moment I started
to really focus on the national team.
Millions of people in Senegal were
inspired by how our team played in that
competition. It is one of the best stories
in our country’s history. Even now, that is
a big motivation for us, to go one better
and finally win this trophy for all of the
people in Senegal. It would be incredible.At club level with Liverpool you are
part of one of the best front threes
in the world. Did you work on that
link-up or has it just clicked?
I think it just happened naturally.
When you have players like Bobby
[Firmino] and Mo [Salah] they just
make everything easier. We just seem
to instinctively know each other’s
movements and I think you can see
that we enjoy playing together. We
know we maybe didn’t start this season
quite as strongly as we were playing last
year. We were at an extremely high level,
but you can see it is coming. We want to
get even better and score even more
goals. Our best is still to come.Liverpool made their best-ever start
to a league season and are in the last
16 of the Champions League. You
have to go back to1990 for the last
time the Reds won the title. What
would it mean to you to be in the
side that finally ends that wait?
I can’t wait to lift a trophy with Liverpool.
I know the fans are desperate for us to
win the Premier League. It would be an
amazing moment for the club. It has
been far too long for a team the size of
Liverpool. We believe we are heading in
the right direction, but there are some
very tough rivals –[Manchester] City
were unbelievable last season and are
very strong again – but why not? Weare going to keep pushing and try to
make everyone who loves the club very
proud. We heard what some of the
media were saying about us not starting
off by playing as fast and exciting as last
year, and we felt we weren’t at our best
ourselves at times. The results have been
there but we know we could have done
more with some of our performances. In
many ways, this is good for the club. We
are very competitive but know there is
even more to come, for sure. The season
is long, so we were always calm about it.
In many ways, the team is stronger and
we have produced some very mature
performances. We work hard every day
to be at our best and hopefully we will hit
our top form when it really matters most.Tell us about your relationship with
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp...
He’s one of the best coaches in the world
but I think one of his secrets is that he is
just an incredible person. He is someone
who is very close to the players. We have
a strong bond with him and he just has a
way of inspiring you with his passion. All
the boys love him and so do the fans. We
are all improving and progressing under
him. He is amazing for the club. I can see
how my game has gone to an extra level
with him and I hope to keep working with
him for many more years to come.You were linked with Real Madrid
last summer. Did you consider a move
or were you always going to sign a
new long-term deal with Liverpool?
Speculation is part of football. You just
learn to live with it and not take it too
seriously. All I can say is that my only
concern is Liverpool. Mo, Bobby...it
seemed like everyone was signing
contracts and they were saying: “Hey,
Sadio, when are you going to sign?” I
said to each of them: “Don’t worry, bro,
I will sign.” And what did I do? I signed...
so they are pleased now! [laughs]. I’m
very happy here and I think people are
happy with me too. We want to write our
names alongside the many great ones in
the story of this club. Hopefully
it’s just the beginning of
something special.Sadio MANE Q&A
68 THE PREM ERA
THE PLAYERS