Sadio Mane has explained how he snubbed some of his former Liverpool teammates in Saudi Arabia in order to complete a move to Cristiano Ronaldo-led Al Nassr.
Earlier in the transfer window, the reigning CAF Men's Player of the Year brought an end to his erratic time at Bayern Munich and made the lucrative move to the Gulf state.
The 31-year-old is one of the biggest names to have arrive in the Saudi Pro League in this window after signing for Al Nassr.
However, Senegal's all-time leading goalscorer has revealed that before inking his deal with the Knights of Najd, some of his teammates from his days at Anfield tried to lure him to their Saudi teams.
"I think first of all I spoke with [Roberto] Firmino for sure," he said, according to The National.
"I think he wanted me to come to the wrong club – I'm joking! He always called two or three times to convince me to come to Al Ahli.
"At the same time I spoke with Fabinho because he was quite close to me and he also wanted me to come to Al Ittihad, but in this time, when Al Nassr came, I chose Al Nassr.
"Of course, [Jordan] Henderson is here also, and he sent me a message two days ago to wish me good luck and I'm excited to meet all these great guys and also to meet them face to face for the first time.
"I'm going to win against you guys!"
He then explained that his family also played a big role in his decision to move to the Middle East.
"Since I had the opportunity I spoke to my family, and they were happiest of course because it is a Muslim country," Mane added.
"My mum especially encouraged me to go. My mum is Muslim like me, she was the first to vote for me to go there and my whole family was excited for me to come here so it was not hard – it is important to my faith. I am pleased to be part of this project and to make it go forward, we have a bright future ahead."
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