Liverpool News: Fabinho ‘Persuaded’ Sadio Mane Not To Leave

Fabinho, the versatile Liverpool midfielder, has confessed that he ‘kept some hope’ that Sadio Mane would reject Bayern Munich’s offer and stay at Liverpool, but that was not the reality.

After six great years with Liverpool, the Senegalese moved to Bayern Munich.

The Lion of Teranga never intended to go, according to the Brazilian international, but it appears that he had already made up his mind.

Fabinho 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 up his mind. We had to respect that.

Related: Sadio Mane Exits Liverpool As Bayern Confirm €41m Transfer

“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 okay.

“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.”

But the 28-year-old thinks Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez, two recent additions, will fill Sadio Mane’s absence.

“Losing Sadio is a big loss. He was one of our best players but it’s something that we can’t change,” Fabinho continued.

“We have to deal with it. Now other players have to step up and take on greater responsibility

“Darwin may need a bit of time to adapt, let’s see, but a player like him can really change a team. He’s a proper No. 9. He’s a goalscorer. He scored in both games against us in the Champions League. We know how good he is.

“Even though we lost Sadio, I still believe that we can fight for everything. The team is still really strong.

“For a long time, it was always Sadio on the left side. But we have Luis on the left side and we saw how well he played in the second half of last season. Luis will become increasingly important.”