If you ask Naby Keita about the Senegalese’s current performance in this Premier League season, all you’ll hear is well deserved praise. Keita claims Sadio Mane is “living his greatest moments right now.” Fans and Sports pundits alike can see why as Mane has scored 10 whopping times in his 16 appearances in the Premier League so far, which has aided Liverpool in skyrocketing to the top of the table.
Keita continues to say, “I know him to be the kind of person who always wants to achieve more, and he will continue in that way.” We can see Sadio Mane being extremely devoted to his team in many ways, for example over the “diving” jokes he made to retaliate to Pep Guardiola’s jabs. Over the weekend, the Senegalese international was booked for simulation against Aston Villa after going down in the box, although there did appear to be contact.
Guardiola wasn’t pleased with how Mane went to the ground and taunted at him for being a “diver”. Mane jokingly replied with he would continue to dive if that meant his side get a penalty. He further went on to say, “If it could be a penalty for sure I will ‘dive’ again. If the dive will give me a penalty then I will do it to get it back! Why not? But what Jurgen said is correct. I do not dive.”
He insisted his booking against AstonVilla and claimed he will continue to play how he normally does and any comments from rivals will not affect his performances at all. And besides, Mane has time to take his “revenge” for the jabs in the upcoming match against Manchester City, managed by Guardiola himself, on the 10th of November.
Mane also recently had the honour of being one of seven Liverpool players shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or. Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino also joined the attacker on the 30-man nomination list.
Although Mane seems well on his way for yet another Golden Boot, winning the Ballon d’Or would definitely be a next level achievement and at the pace with which he is going, it doesn’t seem unlikely. If you ask Danny Murphy, ex-Liverpool star, he believes, “Salah and Mané have got more competition this season for the Golden Boot. But there is potential for either of them to win it if they stay fit throughout the season.”
Murphy also seems to place more importance on Sadio Mane than Salah when asked in an interview about who is more integral to the team. He responded with: “Mane brings something else to the squad. Mane is complete in his work ethic, defensive rate, pressing and in getting back to defend and it’s easy to see that he does better than Salah in this respect.”
It’s clear to see that although rival teams may make jabs at Mane’s performances at times, he still has quite the fanbase and as Naby Keita said, he will never stop wanting to achieve more. Let’s hope we can see Mane remain consistent with these energetic performances throughout the Premier League.
