Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah has admitted that he sometimes acts selfishly, adding that his relationship with his strike partner, Sadio Mane is a professional one.
Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah have proven to be two of the best players at Liverpool football club since they started playing together in the 2017-2018 season.
Aside from working to help Liverpool win games and trophies, the two African players have been competing with each other especially on the pitch in terms of goals and assists.
The competition that exists between Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah makes outsiders believe that there is no healthy relationship between them.
So far, their combined efforts have helped Liverpool to win one UEFA Champions League, one Premier League title, one UEFA Super Cup, and one FIFA Club World Cup.
Aside from those titles, their presence in coach Jurgen Klopp’s team has made the club almost unbeatable in every club tournament they are involved in.
So far this season, Mohamed Salah has scored 20 goals and provided 9 assists in 21 appearances in all competitions. While Mane has scored 9 goals and provided an assist in all competitions.
Their effort so far this season has helped Liverpool to remain second on the league table with 34 points in 15 games, a point below first-placed Manchester City.
Their effort has also helped the club to finish the 2021-2022 UEFA Champions League group stage campaign without losing nor drawing any match despite being in the same group with European giants like AC Milan, Porto, and Atletico Madrid.
In an interview with Egyptian media outfit MBC, Mohamed Salah noted that he and his rival and teammate, Mane, always give their all for the betterment of Liverpool.
“My relationship with Sadio [Mane]? We are teammates on the pitch and in the locker room, and it’s a professional relationship,” he said.
“He and I give everything we have for the team to win. We may have a competition for who is better, but this is normal in any team and a legitimate right for any player, but in the end, we serve the team.
“Sometimes I act selfishly on the field, but no one puts his interest above the interest of the team, and it is not intentional.
“In a match, Sadio left the field angry, this was the first time people talked about the bad relationship between us, and they associated every time I did not pass to him or he did not pass to me with this situation.
“But Sadio give me many assists and so do I. I am not jealous if someone else scored goals.”
Mohamed Salah dreams of winning the Ballon d’Or someday
Mohamed Salah has come close to winning the Ballon d’Or in 2018, 2019, and was nominated for the award in 2021 but has not been able to fulfill his dream of clinching the award.
Mohamed Salah's reaction when asked about his position in the Ballon d'Or award 🤣#EVELIV
— ZIZOU (@zizou_910) December 1, 2021
pic.twitter.com/xEL0wfLepV
Yet, the 29-year-old Egyptian right-winger believes that he would someday win the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA The Best awards.
However, he noted that it would not be a problem for him if he retires from football without winning the two prestigious football awards.
“I feel it is up to people’s opinions”, the Egyptian said. “In my mind, I am the best player in the world.
“I can’t say I don’t want to win the Ballon d’Or or Fifa The Best, of course, I want to get any of them and I know I’ll win any of them at some point, but if I don’t win them no problem I’m not worried, but I feel the criteria for these awards are unfair.
“Money and fame have made me more honest with myself, that I don’t want to prove anything to myself.”
🇪🇬👑 Mohamed Salah becomes first Liverpool player to score 7 goals in a single Champions League group stage campaign 👏#UCL pic.twitter.com/CliA7u0wUa
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 7, 2021
Salah acknowledges Jurgen Klopp
After two years as the manager of Liverpool, coach Jurgen Klopp decided to bring in Mohamed Salah on July 1, 2017, from Roma for a transfer fee worth €42 million.
Since the arrival of the Egyptian, Liverpool have been growing from strength to strength and have achieved everything in European club football.
While discussing his relationship with coach Jurgen Klopp, Salah described his relationship with the German tactician as very good.
“My relationship with Klopp is very good, he always tries to bring out the best in me and I always try to give everything I have for him and the club”, he said.
“Our relationship is good and professional. Do we disagree? Certainly, because we think differently, but in the end, we agree on most things. You can’t say we agree 100% or disagree 100%.
“I always want to play. But he is the coach and he wants to rest his players because of the many matches, but we always reach a compromise. We have been together for five years and I can always ask him why I don’t play or why he rested me.
“Klopp is tough when necessary or when he feels the team is too confident to win, but he treats the players well.”
