Sadio Mane quit Liverpool because he was ‘never lauded or appreciated by the club as much as Virgil van Dijk or Mohamed Salah’ and ‘Jurgen Klopp belittled AFCON’, claims Trevor Sinclair
- Sadio Mane has opted to leave Liverpool and join Bayern Munich this summer
- Trevor Sinclair believes there are three main reasons why the forward departed
- Pundit says Mane was not as appreciated as Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk
- He also pointed out his contract situation and Jurgen Klopp’s AFCON comments
Sadio Mane left Liverpool because he didn’t feel ‘lauded or appreciated’ by the club in comparison to some team-mates, Trevor Sinclair has claimed.
After revealing his desire for a new challenge, the forward was allowed to leave for Bayern Munich, with a £35million deal agreed following several rejected bids.
Jurgen Klopp has voiced this dismay at one of his key players exiting this summer, while other club legends, including Michael Owen, were surprised he wanted to go.
Sadio Mane may have left Liverpool as he did not feel ‘appreciated’ as much as team-mates
Sinclair, however, says a variety of factors may have helped make up his mind.
He told talkSPORT: ‘This Sadio Mane transfer is obviously universally accepted now he’s left Liverpool Football Club as a club legend.
‘But I keep on hearing some fans and ex-players saying “I don’t know why he’s left?” Let me tell you why he’s left.
The forward has joined the Bundesliga champions in a £35million deal and has been unveiled
Trevor Sinclair believes that off-field factors helped make up Mane’s mind about his departure
‘One, I don’t think he’s ever been lauded and appreciated at the football club like Virgil van Dijk or Mo Salah.
‘Two, the fact that Liverpool let his contract go down to the last year kind of suggests that that’s how they felt about him.
‘Three, I think the main thing is that Jurgen Klopp lost him when he came out and belittled the AFCON tournament which his manager (for Senegal) Aliou Cisse had to come out and defend the AFCON and said “you were coming second until our African players started playing for you”.
‘Mane is a man of principles, you’ve seen him buy hospitals, buy schools and all the rest of it in his home town of Senegal and it’s for these reasons I…