Mané: Liverpool team-mates were nagging me to sign new deal
Sadio Mané says his Reds colleagues had been pestering him to sign a new contract before he committed his future to the club in November.
The Senegal international was the subject of links to Real Madrid after protracted negotiations over a new deal.
However, he ended rumours by inking a new contract until 2023 last year – much to the delight of team-mates like Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, who had already committed their own futures.
“Speculation is part of football,” Mané told World Soccer. “You just learn to live with it and not to 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!
“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 the beginning of something special.”
Mané joined Liverpool from Southampton in summer 2016 and has gone on to score 43 goals in 101 appearances for the Reds.
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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.
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