Mane not seeking individual accolades at Liverpool

Liverpool’s midfield goal machine Sadio Mane may be enjoying his most prolific season in English football so far, but he insists breaking his own records is not what motivates him to score.

The 24-year-old, who joined the Reds from Premier League rivals Southampton last summer for a £34million fee, notched up his 12th goal of the league campaign in Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Arsenal last weekend.

The topped his highest single-season tally during his time at St. Mary’s, and given his month away from England on AFCON duty with Senegal, Mane’s record is all the more impressive.

His link-up play with Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino has been a highlight of Liverpool’s season so far, despite their stuttering start to 2017, but Mane is focused only on helping the team win rather than hitting the net himself.

“Honestly, I’m a player who doesn’t give importance to these kinds of things. I’m a team player,” he said.

“The only important thing, always, is to score goals for the team and so the team wins. That’s what is always important for us, not whether Adam [Lallana] scores, or I score, or Philippe [Coutinho] scores or someone else. The more important thing is the three points.

“The performance of the team [against Arsenal] was amazing, everybody was giving their best and pushing hard.

“It’s good for us, especially the strikers, to score – and it’s important for the confidence of the team as well.

“The work of the team was so great; we have players who work as a team. We’re going to try to keep going.”