"Yeah, he will" - Jurgen Klopp makes bold claim about Liverpool forward

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has made a bold claim about Sadio Mane's future

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has backed star forward Sadio Mane to remain a top-level player for many years to come.

The Senegal international has enjoyed good form since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, where he fired his country to glory.

The versatile attacker scored the winning penalty against Egypt in the final and was also named player of the tournament.

Since his comeback, the 30-year-old has picked up him form, having scored eight goals in 12 starts for the Reds.

The former Southampton star scored a brace for Jurgen Klopp's side in their 3-2 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final.

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Liverpool will take on their arch rivals Manchester United on Tuesday night in a crunch Premier League clash.

In his pre-match press conference, Klopp lavished praise on the Mane. He said, as quoted by The Liverpool Echo:

“Yeah, he will – if he wants to."

"The quality of Sadio we don’t really have to talk about, because it’s absolutely incredible. Obviously what happened in the last two months for him was a boost, that is clear, and I am really happy for him. All the rest, we will see."

Klopp also insisted that he is not prepared to address contract talks with Mane. He admitted that he had made a mistake by talking about Mohamed Salah's contract situation earlier this month.

The 54-year-old said:

"I made a mistake talking about the Mo (Salah) contract situation which I usually didn’t do and it led to plenty of misunderstandings, so I go back to my former approach and close the door again - nothing to say about any kind of negotiations or something like this."

“Yeah and he is a talent as well. If you do the same training as Sadio or I do you will never look like him, it’s not possible. He is blessed, let me put it like this. He does a lot, absolutely, but he is a bit lucky as well.”