The Senegalese attacker has enjoyed a blistering start to his career at Anfield.
Sadio Mane has named current Bayer Leverkusen boss Roger Schmidt as a huge influence on his career while speaking to the Liverpool Echo.
The attacker worked worked with Schmidt at Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg and has been talking about how the German manager played a big role in his development as a footballer.
“He was a big influence on my career thanks to the way he believed in me and helped me so much,” Mane told the Liverpool Echo.
“I was still young when I went to Salzburg and working under him really helped me to grow up and grow up as a player. I learned about tactics and different ways to play the game.”
The 24-year-old has taken the Premier League by storm since his arrival at Southampton in 2014 and has gone on to new heights since joining Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
Mane is an integral part of Klopp’s frightening forward line, who have scored 18 goals so far in the Premier League, with only Manchester City equalling that total.
Liverpool’s number 19 was brought to Red Bull Salzburg from French club Metz by Schmidt, whose Bayer Leverkusen side are currently sixth in the Bundlesliga, six points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
Mane is one of the most exciting players in the Premier League with his incredible pace and dribbling ability, and he has started to become a more intelligent player in the past year, having a bigger impact on games rather than just showing flashes of his ability in the wrong areas of the pitch.
The Sengal international scored 21 Premier League goals for Southampton and has three so far for Liverpool this season.
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