Cup of Nations, Mane’s role as an
African winner of the Champions League- following in the footsteps of Didier
Drogba (Chelsea 2012) and Samuel Eto’o
(Barcelona 2006) – was a key factor
in being voted the continent’s number
one player, as was Liverpool’s popularity
across the region. The award is organised
by CAF and voted for by Africa’s national
coaches and team captains.
Mane is one of a number of players
to emerge from Austrian
champions Red Bull
Salzburg in recent years.
Erling Haaland, signed
by Borussia Dortmund in
the January window, could
be the best yet, while
others include Mane’s
Liverpool team-mate
Naby Keita, Valon Berisha
(Lazio), Kevin Kampl
(RB Leipzig) and Munas
Dabbur (who is joining
Hoffenheim from Sevilla).
Liverpool also returned
to Salzburg in the January
transfer window, signing
Japanese winger Takumi
Minamino for a modest
fee of £9million.
Mane, having been
spotted at Metz in France, was prolific
during his time in Austria. He scored 19
and 23 times in his two full seasons at
Salzburg before earning a move to the
Premier League with Southampton.
Ironically, Liverpool manager Jurgen
Klopp rejected the chance to sign Mane
for Borussia Dortmund in 2014. “It was
simply a wrong evaluation,” Klopp now
says. “I thought at that time that it was
a lot of pressure on Dortmund – and
this transfer, it had to be right.
“It is not the only wrong decision I
have made, but this one I could correct
some years later.”
Fortunately for Klopp he has been
teamed up with Mane on Merseyside
thanks to a club scouting and transfer
policy that has secured some impressive
deals in recent times. And Klopp believes
the sky’s the limit for Mane.
“Sadio is in incredible shape,” he adds.
“Since his first day he was an incredibly
important player. I remember his goal
against Arsenal, running down the line,
cutting inside and then, with the next
step, with the left foot in the far corner.
“That was an incredible goal and I can
still remember that with all the other
goals he scored. Each year he has made
big steps and he is on a good way.”
John HolmesdaleS
adio Mane’s achievements
over the past 12 months
have been recognised
by the Confederation
of African Football, who
named the Liverpool
forward as the 2019
African Footballer of the Year at a
star-studded gala in Egypt.
Mane is the first Senegalese to win the
award since another Liverpool player, El
Hadji Diouf, in 2002, having twice been
runner-up to his Liverpool team-mate
Mohamed Salah, in 2017 and 2018.
Salah and the other short-listed
candidate, Riyad Mahrez of ManchesterCity and Algeria, did not attend the
ceremony in Hurghada.
The award was in recognition of the
27-year-old’s impressive achievements
last year. He was runner-up at the Africa
Cup of Nations with Senegal, a European
champion with Liverpool, the joint-top
scorer in the Premier League, and a
winner of the European Super Cup and
Club World Cup. Mane eclipsed previous
African player of the year Salah for
Liverpool as they stayed on course for
their first league title for three decades.
Though a runner-up to Algeria at theClub and country...posing a goal threat for both Liverpool (left) and Senegal (above)“It is not the only wrong decision
I have made, but this one I could
correct some years later”
Jurgen Klopp on not signing Mane when at DortmundPEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE NEWS
Presentation...the awards
ceremony in Egypt