Mohamed Salah has revealed that Georginio Wijnaldum is ‘always’ provoking Sadio Mane by winding him up about his pace at Liverpool.
In a Q&A with Sky Sports, the Egypt international was asked who’s quicker between him and his £34 million teammate.
In response to the question, Salah said: “We were talking about it, me, Sadio and Gini. Gini is always like ‘Mo’s faster than you’ and Sadio says ‘no I’m faster than him’.”
It’s good to hear that Wijnaldum often jokingly winds the Senegal international up about his speed.
Banter such as that represents a healthy morale around the AXA Training Centre, and it’s evident that there’s a competitive edge between the two forwards.
While some Liverpool fans might want Salah and Mane to always get on swimmingly, such an intense in-house rivalry is also a good thing.
Former Reds striker Peter Crouch even said that he doubts the pair are the best of friends.
However, he highlighted their competitive nature as something that can only be good for Liverpool.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘There is only a problem around something like this if a team are losing.
‘Are he and Salah the best of friends? I doubt it. But it doesn’t matter.’
To continuously provoke one another, whether it be about pace, goal tallies, or dribbles per game, is certainly good for Jurgen Klopp.
It means that, in addition to other motivational factors, Salah and Mane are also spurred on by trying to gain an advantage over one another, as doing so would give them bragging rights on the training ground.
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