‘He said’: Bayern Munich chief says he knows exactly why Sadio Mane wanted to leave Liverpool

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Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has spoken about the deal which took Sadio Mane from Liverpool this summer.

Mo Salah’s contract situation dominated the headlines throughout the season, but after the Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid, Mane made it clear he wanted to leave.

A swift exit to Bayern was organised, with Liverpool bringing in Darwin Nunez to take up the role at the centre of their attack.

Salihamidzic spoke to the Times about Mane’s decision to leave and why he opted for the German champions as his destination.

Salihamidzic speaks out on Mane move from Liverpool to Bayern

He said: “Somebody like Sadio looks at clubs and thinks, ‘I’ve had six amazing years at Liverpool, what’s next?’

“He will choose his next move carefully. I know why he chose us, he said so: because he feels that there’s so much quality and mentality, with him being a leader in that respect who fits right in.

“It was obvious that Lewy was thinking about a move, but without having top replacements available, we wouldn’t have agreed [to let him go].

” But we had many options, we tried to make one happen, and that allowed us to let him go. The fact that it was Sadio . . . it couldn’t have worked out any better for us.”

Perhaps Mane’s exit is one of the reasons why Liverpool are struggling to find their feet and some consistency so far this season.

But Liverpool had to do something with him, Salah and Roberto Firmino all needing resolutions to their contract situations this summer.

Liverpool sold him for a decent price and got their replacement in as early as possible.

There is not much more they could have done, but now it is up to Jurgen Klopp to weather the storm and get his team firing.