Sadio Mane of Liverpool celebrates with the Champions League Trophy after profitable the UEFA Champions League Ultimate between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at Estadio Wanda Metropolitano on June 01, 2019 in Madrid, Spain. (Picture by Matthias Hangst/Getty Photos)
Sadio Mane will go down as one of many biggest Liverpool gamers of the trendy period, however there was a time when even his personal teammates didn’t price him.
The Senegalese ahead shaped one a part of the Reds’ iconic entrance three alongside Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.
Mane notched 120 targets and 42 assists in 269 appearances throughout all competitions between 2016 and 2022, serving to Liverpool win Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup titles in a glittering interval beneath Jurgen Klopp.
After all, Mane’s success at Liverpool was made doable by his begin to life in England at Southampton, who he joined from RB Salzburg in 2014.
Mane would go on to register 25 targets and 12 assists in 75 appearances throughout two seasons for the Saints, serving to them end seventh and sixth within the Premier League and qualify for the Europa League.
Shane Lengthy describes ‘horrendous’ first impression of ex-Liverpool and Saints star Mane
However Mane — who now performs within the Saudi Professional League for Al-Nassr following an unsuccessful spell at Bayern Munich — didn’t at all times appear to be he was on the trail to stardom.
In reality, former Southampton teammate Shane Lengthy described his first impressions of Mane as ‘horrendous’.
“When Sadio first got here, for the primary six months, he was horrendous,” Lengthy instructed the Fozcast.
“Clearly he wasn’t horrendous, I take that again. He had these moments the place you thought, ‘Oh, he’s received one thing.’ You used to kick him and also you’d harm your self. He’s received that power about him. However he’s solely small, he’s fast.
“However he might tackle all people and kick it into row Z making an attempt to cross the ball. He might run it off the pitch, these kinds of issues.
“However then (Ronald) Koeman managed to educate him and practice him and stuff, and he simply hit this run of kind and also you thought, ‘Oh my god, this man can simply go to the very, very high.”
Luckily for Mane, first impressions aren’t at all times proper.
High photograph by Matthias Hangst/Getty Photos
