Liverpool signing Sadio Mane almost gave the game away due to homesickness, reveals his former junior coach.

Mane signed for Liverpool last month from Southampton for £30million, but his former academy coach at French side Metz has claimed it could have been a very different story.

“He was homesick at the beginning as everything was different for him," Schaeffer told The Sun.

“The food was different, the weather, the rhythm of training, just life in general.

“When he arrived in France it was the beginning of winter and he was just a boy.

“He was injured a month after he arrived and it needed three or four months for him to get back and fulfil his potential.

“We worked with his integration and he had to work hard every day.

"We worked with him in different situations as he had to find a new life but he really wanted to improve.

“Everyone here has wonderful memories of him as a boy and he keeps contact with some people here."