Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool can reap the benefit of Sadio Mane’s “absolutely insane” Africa Cup of Nations triumph. Mane scored the winning penalty in the final shoot-out to earn Senegal their first victory in the competition with a win over Mohamed Salah’s Egypt in Cameroon last weekend.
Jurgen Klopp said: “For him as a person, 100% he made a massive step. He was a world-class player when he left for the tournament and he comes back as a leader on a different level, I have to say. I was really impressed by the way he handled the situation. I texted Sadio during the tournament and I couldn’t have more respect for what he did. He is for sure now one of the biggest Senegal legends of all time and rightly so. The pressure on his shoulders was absolutely incredible. I have usually no problem with facing pressure, but when he walked to take the penalty I thought that’s a really difficult moment in life. He faced it and mastered it and rightly so got all the praise. He was the best player of the tournament. It makes it even more funny with what people made of my earlier comments this year, it was obviously the big tournament we knew before and it was for Sadio the biggest of his life so far. It’s absolutely insane.”
Klopp, though, admits it would take success with Liverpool this season for Mane to become a frontrunner for the next Ballon d’Or award.Asked if the Senegalese could now claim the honour,
Jurgen Klopp said: “I have no idea. It depends a lot on the season we play and he plays. Usually you have to win the Champions League or show up in it, that’s how it works I think.”
Mane, who turns 30 in April, has less than 18 months on his Liverpool contract with there no public acknowledgment of talks having started over a new deal. But when asked if the forward can still keep improving, Klopp pointed to the recent trend of players remaining influential well into their fourth decade.
Jurgen Klopp added: “It’s difficult given the level he is at already, but of course (he can improve). I don’t know exactly when people said 26-27 was the peak for players. I’m not 100% sure but a few years ago, the first three players seen as the best in the world – apart from Mo Salah, who was younger – were Lewandowski, Messi and Ronaldo, all 30 and over. There are exceptional talents out there, and if you are lucky enough to get through a career without major injuries then you can play for a long time. Who decides when is your peak? I wouldn’t decide that because I don’t know exactly when that happens. We have now a really good example with Luis Diaz, who is not a kid anymore but his career started pretty late. He is a late bloomer. The massive advantage of a player in their early 30s is he sees the things in the right way if he has learned during his career, and he can still use that and be an even better player than he was two or three years before. That’s the plan with all of them. There’s no age roof where we think beyond that, we won’t do it. For clubs, it’s different. They might not sign a 33-year-old player because maybe they think they can’t sell him anymore. But if the player is already in, it’s outstanding to have them around because they have experience, they have desire and they have quality.”
