Liverpool's Sadio Mané proud of Ballon d'Or recognition
Sadio Mané hopes Liverpool can add more silverware to the Anfield trophy room this season: "We're a great team and the boys still have a lot to show".
What a year it's been for Sadio Mané. The Liverpool forward is the favourite out of the five candidates for the Premier League Player of the Month for November and earlier this week, finished fourth in this year's Ballon d'Or. He is also up for the CAF African Player of the Year award.
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi claimed the award for a record sixth time at Monday's ceremony in Paris. Mané's club team-mate Virgil van Dijk was named runner-up and Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo ranked third, some 210 points behind his Argentine rival. Mané was further back on 347 votes (Messi gained 686) but the Senegal international modestly played down his own achievements and says he just hopes this season is a successful one for the team.
Modest Mané
"That means we are a great team with great players and great quality," Mané told the Liverpool FC club website about the Reds having four players in the top 10 and six in the top 20. "The boys still have a lot to show and hopefully this season we can show it. I am very proud and happy to be named fourth in the world. I am looking forward and why not number one, maybe? I will do everything possible to win the Champions League and Premier League with Liverpool and we'll see what's going to happen."
Busy month for Liverpool
Messi himself said it was a "shame" Mané had not finished higher in the aftermath of a 22-goal Premier League campaign. The 27-year-old delighted Anfield with a brilliant performance in Wednesday's 5-2 thrashing of Everton in the Merseyside derby and is expected to be in the starting line-up for this afternoon's trip to Bournemouth although he admits Klopp will probably rest him during a fixture-packed December.
"I think tiredness is in the head. I'm ready to go - I'm feeling fresh again," he said. "I expect [to be rested at some point], but when they put me on the bench I respect it and I will be here to push my team-mates because we are Liverpool. Wednesday was a good example with Bobby [Firmino] and Mo [Salah], it meant that other players can get the job. I'm just here and whatever they decide, I am ready to go."