A furious Sadio Mane snubbed a handshake from his manager Jurgen Klopp after Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Manchester United on Thursday night, May 13.
The Senegalese striker was a second-half substitute as the Reds picked up a huge win to move to 5th position in the league as they aim to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Mane replaced Diogo Jota in the 74th minute but refused to shake Klopp’s hand at the final whistle as he marched towards the tunnel shaking his head.
No Mane, less problem. No wonder Klopp was very reluctant to drop Mane to the bench. Mane snub Klopp handshake. #MANLIV 2-4 #YNWA #LiverpoolFC pic.twitter.com/P8rpg5Q1WY
— 𝑱𝒐𝒏𝒖 𝑫𝒔𝒍𝒖𝒈𝒐 (@JonuDslugo) May 14, 2021
During the post-match interview, the Liverpool boss played down the incident and admitted that he failed to explain his selection to the Senegal striker.
He told Sky Sports: “No, no problem. Yesterday I made a late decision in training to decide for Diogo. The boys are used to me explaining things usually but there was actually no time for that and that’s all. It’s all fine.”
Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool manager, Graeme Souness said Mane’s snub of his manager showed both a disrespect to Klopp and to the club as a whole.
He said: “It’s disrespectful. It’s never happened to me but if I were the manager, I would not be happy. I think he should have shaken his hand, he didn’t want to cuddle, but you should show a bit of respect. It’s most importantly disrespectful to the football club.
“Yeah, he’s not happy at being left out, but can he really argue? He’s not had a great season, how can he argue with the fact he’s been a sub and Liverpool have won 4-2 at Old Trafford which is not a happy hunting ground for them.”
By Kingsley U.