Sadio Mane has again poured cold water on suggestions he has a personal rivalry with former Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah.
The two prolific forwards were the main men in Jurgen Klopp's attack for five years before Mane completed a £35million transfer to Bayern Munich this summer. Understandably, the duo were desperate to outshine one another and on occasion they were unable to hide their frustrations - an incident at Burnley in 2019 summed this up.
However, Mane and Salah have repeatedly insisted that there is no ill feeling between them, and that actually they spurred each other on to reach great heights at Anfield. Egypt captain Salah, 30, sent a heartfelt message to his departing teammate in June during which he hailed his long-time colleague as a "brother".
In a fresh update, Senegal talisman Mane opened up on how he texts his former colleague and insisted there is no footballer he is on bad terms with. The 30-year-old was speaking after he fended off competition from Salah and Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to be crowned the 2022 African Player of the Year following another brilliant season for Liverpool and an Africa Cup of Nations triumph with his country, having defeated Egypt in the final.
"People sometimes say there's a rivalry between me and [Salah], but you know I don't see myself having a rivalry with any player to be honest," Mane told GOAL ahead of the ceremony in Rabat, Morocco on Thursday. "We have good relations, we text each other. I think the media always try to [aggravate] things."
He added: "You know I don't just have [relationships] with one player, but with every player I've played with in the world. You can ask whoever you want in the club, or wherever I go. I have good relationships with all players."
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During their time as teammates, Mane and Salah fired Liverpool to Champions League and Premier League glory. As a partnership, they went out in style, lifting the EFL Cup and the FA Cup during their final season as teammates, while only missing out on an unprecedented quadruple by the smallest of margins.
While Salah has signed a lucrative new contract to stay on Merseyside until 2025, Mane made it clear he was keen to pursue a new challenge after six successful years with the Reds. This put Bayern on red alert and the German giants saw two bids rejected before submitting a successful offer to get the deal over the line and hand Mane a three-year deal.
