Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been hailed so far for his response to the COVID-19 crisis but he came under fire after revealing he didn’t want to sign Mane because he looked like a ‘rapper’.
This led many people to wonder if he was being racist and several Twitter users slammed the Liverpool manager.
Before signing him for Liverpool, Klopp had the opportunity to sign him for Dortmund.
"I remember my first encounter with Sadio. It was in Dortmund. There was a really young guy sitting there. His baseball cap was askew, the blond streak he still has today," Klopp said in an interview.
"He looked like a rapper just starting out. I thought: 'I don't have time for this'. Our team back then really wasn't bad. I needed someone who could handle not being a starter at the very beginning, someone I could develop. I'd say I have a pretty good feeling for people, but was I wrong! I further followed his career and continued success at Salzburg. In Southampton he just dominated."
Mane had two productive years at St Mary’s before moving to Liverpool.
This isn’t Liverpool’s first brush with racism. In 2011, Luiz Suarez was accused of racism by Patrice Evra, Liverpool actually wore tshirts to support Suarez. Years later, Carragher called it a huge mistake. “There is no doubt we made a massive mistake; that was obvious.
“We got to the ground, had our lunch and then had a team meeting – I don’t know if it was the manager [Kenny Dalglish] or [coach] Steve Clarke – asking one of the players if he was still wearing the shirt, and that is the first I had heard of it.
“I am not lying and saying I wasn’t part of it because as the club we got it wrong, and I was vice-captain.
“I am not sure who was actually behind it. I don’t think it had anything to do with the manager, Kenny; I think it was the players who were close to Luis in the dressing room, who really wanted to support their mate.”
