"There was a very good meeting in Sadio's house"- Sadio Mane's agent explains Liverpool exit and addresses rumors about low wage

Sadio Mane's agent Bacary Cisse has explained his client's exit from Liverpool and his decision to join Bayern Munich. Cisse has dismissed rumors that said the attacker left the Reds because of low wages. He has claimed that false numbers have been circulating in the media suggesting Mane was underpaid at Liverpool and that is not true.

Cisse has insisted that the AFCON winner was seeking a new challenge and was convinced by Bayern Munich. Cisse told TV5Monde, as quoted by The Mirror:

"Those are false rumours. We didn't want to talk about that. A player of Sadio's calibre can't be earning the salary that people are speaking about. The numbers circulating are completely wrong."

He added:

"Sadio was already earning more than that when he joined Liverpool from Southampton. He extended his contract in 2018 and his salary was much higher than the numbers circulating in the media. He won everything with Liverpool and it was time to seek a new challenge elsewhere."

Cisse stated that Bayern Munich were not the only top European club interested in the Senegal international but their project attracted the 30-year-old. He also stated that his client's move to the Allianz Arena had nothing to do with his chances of winning the Ballon d'Or award.

He added:

"Bayern's project was very attractive. Bayern came knocking. Sadio, his German agent Bjorn Bezemer and I had a discussion. Many other very big clubs, that I won't name, wanted Sadio, but when we saw Bayern's project we said, 'That's it, we have to go there'."

He added:

"Sadio does not want to talk too much about that. It's an individual award that players want to win. If it comes, so be it, but if it doesn't, Sadio will continue to play his football and go his way."

Mane joined Bayern Munich on a three-year deal as was announced by the club on June 22.

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Sadio Mane will be hard to replace for Liverpool

Sadio Mane won everything he could at Liverpool and has always given his everything for the Merseyside club.

He was one of the cornerstones of Klopp's project at Anfield, having been signed in the German's first summer transfer window in charge of the club. He has been a mainstay in the Merseysiders' attack since joining from Southampton in 2016.

Mane made 269 appearances for the Reds across all competitions, scoring 120 goals and providing 48 assists in the process.

It will be quite interesting to see how the Reds deal with the absence of the almost irreplaceable Senegal international.