Sadio Mane‘s PR agent has dismissed any suggestions that the departure from Liverpool had anything to do with wages, instead, it was down to a simple desire for a “new challenge.”
An era came to a close when Mane agreed to swap Anfield for the Allianz Arena, with the 30-year-old leaving Liverpool in a deal worth up to £35.1 million.
His desire to move on became clear after the conclusion of Liverpool’s season, but even before that Mane had hinted at a “special” update on his future.
He had one year remaining on his current contract and reports suggested a desire for £300,000-a-week at Liverpool, in what some believed to be a significant rise from the deal he was on.
But Mane’s PR agent, Bacary Cisse, has denied all claims that Mane’s wages were too low and thus sought an exit from the club this summer, with a £100,000-a-week salary wide of the mark.
“Those are false rumours. We didn’t want to talk about that,” Cisse told TV5Monde, as quoted by Twitter user @iMiaSanMia.
“A player of Sadio’s calibre can’t be earning the salary that people are speaking about. The numbers circulating are completely wrong.
“Sadio was already earning more than that when he joined Liverpool from Southampton. He extended his contract in 2018 and his salary was much higher than the numbers circulating in the media.”
It was a pretty blunt and straightforward response to the speculation that exits in some corners, with the simple reason for Mane’s departure down to his desire for a new adventure.
“I think Sadio chose the right club at the right time,” Cisse explained.
“He won everything with Liverpool and it was time to seek a new challenge elsewhere. Bayern’s project was very attractive.”
And Mane confirmed as much in his final message to Liverpool fans following his move to Germany, his latest challenge in his esteemed career to date.
“We won a lot and I spent a great, great time there. An unbelievable time at Liverpool, we won a lot,” he said.
“Like I always say, my life is always [about a] challenge and when it came I said to the club that I want to leave, I want to go somewhere else to see a new challenge.
“It is not anything else, it is just a challenge because for me I want to always be challenging myself to get better and better.”
