Southampton: Sadio Mane apologises for scoring against former club for Liverpool

Sadio Mane opened the scoring for Liverpool against his former club Southampton at the weekend.

The Reds eventually went on to record a narrow 2-1 win at St Mary’s after the Senegal international’s strike, with further goals from Roberto Firmino and home forward Danny Ings in the second-half.

However, Mane was apologetic for finding the net against the club that brought him to England back in 2014.

Speaking the BBC Sport, he said:

"“I’m sorry it is against my old team and sorry I have to score but I’m wearing a Liverpool shirt now. Southampton was a very good step for me, I have big respect for this club. It is an amazing place. I learned a lot here and they are very nice people. But it is part of football and you have to deal with it.”"

Mane arrived at Saints from Red Bull Salzburg for around £10m and proved to be a vital part of Ronald Koeman’s rebuild on the South Coast.

His pace, creativity and goals made him a real hit and he recorded 39 goals and assists in 75 games.

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Perhaps the most memorable moment in his two seasons at St Mary’s was when he smashed the record for the fastest Premier League hat-trick with a 2 minute 56 second treble against Aston Villa.

However, his form inevitably attracted the attention of some top clubs and Liverpool were the team that signed him for around £37m in the summer of 2016.

At Anfield, he has become part of the most dangerous attacks in England along with Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah.

To date, Mane has a superb return of 62 goals and 23 assists in just 126 games. He also score in the 2018 Champions League final despite his side’s 3-1 loss to Real Madrid.

For Saints fans to hear that he fully respects their club for the role they played in his career development will be a big deal for them.

It has been well-documented how many former Saints players now play at Anfield, and some of them haven’t left in the best way.

Dejan Lovren and Virgil van-Dijk in particular come in for criticism for the ways in which they forced moves away from the South Coast.