Jurgen Klopp thinks Sadio Mane has done well in Senegal to earn a national honour as the country's president
Mane, a Senegal national from a crusted Bambali, decided to leave Liverpool to join Bayern Munich earlier this summer. It turned out to be a great decision for the 30-year-old — since then, he has scored four goals in his first four matches with Bayern.
And, along with winning the DFL-Supercup, Bayern have enjoyed a perfect start to their season with their new forward.
Since Mane left the Liverpool, the Merseyside club have struggled, obviously. They recently lost 2-1 to Manchester United in their third Premier League fixtures. However, the Reds did win the Community Shield by beating Manchester City 3-1 before the commencement of the Premier League.
Speaking about Mane in the face of criticism that the player's exit has impaired his side's performance Klopp said: "Sadio is the national hero in Senegal.
"Winning the Africa Cup [AFCON], Player of the Tournament, Africa's Men's Player of the Year, scored the decisive penalty [in the AFCON final] and other vital goals. Right now, he could probably become president there if he wanted."
On Mane's long journey to associate with him [Klopp] at Liverpool, the German said: "It's an incredible story, how he even got started with football. [He's] a really great guy."
Mane was happy to hear Klopp's kind words shown to him in video form, the Senegalese responded: "No, it's just a compliment from him," he laughed in response.
"Since I joined him in Liverpool, I developed - first of all - as a human being, of course, and as a player under him. I've always said that I was lucky to be his player and be coached by him."
Mane's impressive goal scoring helped Liverpool win the Champions League, FA Cup, Club World Cup, European Super Cup, EFL Cup and Premier League while under Klopp. He joined the Reds from Southampton in July 2016.