Update: Was Sadio Mane really joking when he said he wants to leave Liverpool? He says he was (wink, wink)

Update: 8:00PM — Mane says he was just yapping for the LOLs

Journalist Cissokho Sahel captured a quote from Sadio Mane talking to Canal+:

“I spoke yesterday while joking with a bit of humor and it went everywhere. I think we’ll stop there. Liverpool is a club I respect a lot. The fans adopted me since day one. Regarding the future, we’ll see.”

Looks like this is the summer window where players make transfer announcements on international duty. First it was Robert Lewandowski declaring his intention to leave Bayern Munich, and now we have Liverpool striker Sadio Mane saying pretty much the same thing.

Or did he? After Mane’s interview was circulated widely on social media, it caused general pandemonium among Reds fans. It seemed like final confirmation that he wanted to leave. Except, that’s not exactly what happened. First you have this tweet by Fabrizio Romano, which tells a specific story:

Romano’s repeating what German sources have already told us, and we all know that Bayern Munich is the frontrunner for his signature. Based on the words alone, Mane’s intentions seem clear cut. There’s no room for debate here.

Then came the video. You can watch it below courtesy of @iMiaSanMia. It’s important because the tone of the interview makes Mane’s statements a lot less clear cut than it first seemed. Decide for yourself:

Is he making fun of the journalists? Was that sarcasm in his voice? Or was it simply the truth, obscured by the veil of humor? You be the judge. What we can see is, this is not the same as Robert Lewandowski’s clear-cut declaration to leave. Of course, this has no bearing on the actual transfer — it’s still up to Bayern Munich and Liverpool to come to an arrangement for the Senegalese star. As far as transfer negotiations go, this will be a complicated one.

If you’re interested in an in-depth review of what Sadio Mane brings to the table for Bayern Munich, then why not check out our podcast? We discussed that and more on our latest episode. Listen to it below or at this link.

Oh, and don’t forget to vote on the poll!