Klopp desperate to keep Mane at Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp says it is “no secret” that Liverpool want to keep Sadio Mane at the club amid suggestions he is going to be offered a new deal.

With the Reds having reluctantly parted with Philippe Coutinho during the January transfer window, the hope is that the services of other star names can be retained.

Mohamed Salah is generating talk of interest from afar, but continues to talk up his happiness at Anfield, while Mane and Roberto Firmino are also earning widespread praise.

New deals could be in the pipeline for those deemed deserving of them, with Klopp eager to see key players kept at Anfield.

Quizzed on a possible contract extension for Mane, who is already tied to Liverpool until 2021, the Reds boss said: "There’s nothing to do about that.

"That we want to keep the players together is not a secret.

“We want to keep Sadio here - keep this team and strengthen it. It’s completely normal.”

Mane moved to Merseyside from Southampton for £34 million in the summer of 2016.

He contributed 13 goals during his debut campaign for the Reds, and already has 12 efforts to his name this term.

That haul includes a hat-trick in his last outing against Porto in the Champions League, with Klopp having already been quick to talk up his value to the cause as part of a fearsome attacking unit.

The German said:  “It was so often that we spoke so positively about Roberto and Mo – and Phil [Coutinho] when he was still here – and the ‘Fab Four’ and now the ‘Fab Three’ if that’s possible.

“Sadio had good games. He had a really good game against Manchester City not so long ago. It’s only that it was not his constant level that we are used to seeing.

“You think of Sadio Mane and he is very decisive, controls the ball well, he is a threat all the time for the other team, works hard and all that stuff.

“He has worked hard. For five or six weeks he has trained at a constantly high level. That’s the only way to come back into shape.”