Sadio Mane has vowed to stop talking about his Liverpool future after claiming that recent comments about his desire to leave the club were actually made in jest.
Before Senegal's 3-1 victory over Benin on Saturday, in which Mane bagged a hat-trick to become his country's all-time leading scorer, the Liverpool forward said that he would give the Senegalese people 'what they want' by trying to leave Anfield this summer.
However, when asked for an explanation after the match, Mane insisted he was not trying to say anything serious.
"I spoke yesterday while laughing with a little humour but it went around the world," Mane told Canal+. "I think we'll stop there.
"Liverpool is a club that I respect a lot, the fans adopted me since day one. As for the future, we'll see."
90min understands that Mane has made it clear to those in charge at Liverpool that he would like to leave this summer, with his representatives recently cancelling pre-planned talks over a possible contract extension.
The Reds are prepared to let Mane leave as he enters the final year of his contract, but they want to make sure they get a fair price for one of the top forwards in football and are likely to demand in excess of £40m.
Bayern Munich are leading the race for Mane's signature, with the German giants bracing themselves for the possible departure of Robert Lewandowski.
Source : 90min