Roberto Firmino has revealed tensions between Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah during the trio’s time at Liverpool.
Firmino, who left Liverpool last summer after a trophy-laden eight-year spell at Anfield, said he played the role of “firefighter” between the pair when they made up one of Europe’s most devastating attacking partnerships — seen most publicly when Mane fumed on the bench against Burnley in 2019 shortly after Salah failed to pass him the ball for an easy tap in.
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“I knew those guys very well, maybe better than anyone,” Firmino wrote in his book, “Sí Señor: My Liverpool Years.” “It was me out there on the field, right in the middle of them. I saw first-hand the looks, the grimaces, the body language, the dissatisfaction when one was mad at the other. I could feel it. I was the link between them in our attacking play and the firefighter in those moments.
“For many, that disagreement [against Burnley in August 2019] between Sadio and Mo was the first; for some, the first and last. But I knew it had been brewing since the previous season, 2018-19. My instinct and my duty was to defuse the situation between them. Pour water on the fire – never petrol.”
Mane left Liverpool in 2022 to join Bayern Munich but departed a year later to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr. Firmino also moved to Saudi Arabia, joining Al Ahli as a free agent.
Salah remains at Liverpool, with 10 goals in 15 games in all competitions this season, although Liverpool rejected a £150 million ($190m) from Al Ittihad last summer.
Firmino continued: “They were never best friends; each kept himself to himself. It was rare to see the two of them talking and I’m not sure if that had to do with the Egypt-Senegal rivalry in African competitions. I truly don’t know. But they also never stopped talking, never severed ties. They always acted with the utmost professionalism.
