"He told me about the situation" - Fabinho reveals he tried to stop Mane leaving

Liverpool midfielder Fabinho has revealed that he tried to talk Sadio Mane out of leaving Anfield.

The winger officially joined Bayern Munich for a transfer fee of £28.80 million earlier this month.

Mane was a terrific player for Liverpool. The Senegal international scored 120 goals and registered 48 assists in 269 appearances for the club's first-team.

Mane was also superb for the Reds last season. The 30-year-old averaged a WhoScored player rating of 7.34 across the 2021-22 campaign.

With that being the case, Fabinho tried to convince Mane to stay at Liverpool.

He told The Athletic: “At the end of the season, I spoke a lot with Sadio. He told me about the situation that he could leave.

“I was always saying to him, ‘Come on Sadio, stay here. You can win the Premier League and the Champions League right here, don’t leave’. But I think he had already made his mind up. We had to respect that.

“Sadio had a really good story in a Liverpool shirt. He played for six years here and during that time he won everything you can win and he decided that he wanted a new challenge. That’s OK.

“After the parade in Liverpool, everyone said goodbye to him. We knew there was a good chance he would be leaving. I always kept some hope that he would still stay but then it was all confirmed.”

Anfield Watch Verdict

We love that Fabinho tried to convince Mane to remain at Anfield. But, the winger clearly had his heart set on a move to Bayern Munich.

Transfers are the norm in football these days. Very few players remain at a club for a long period of time.

We wish Mane all the best with his new journey as he was a fine ambassador for Liverpool. Once a Red, always a Red.