Liverpool forward Sadio Mane celebrates his 25th birthday today, so everyone here at Shoot! would like to wish the Senegal international many happy returns!

Mane burst onto the scene in England when he joined South Coast outfit Southampton back in 2014, this all after a fine spell at Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in which time he scored 45 goals in just 87 appearances, and won the domestic double in 2014.

And he transferred his excellent form in continental Europe over to the Premier League by netting ten goals in 30 league games in his first season at St Mary’s, helping Ronald Koeman’s side to a seventh place finish in the top-flight.

Mane was even better in the following campaign as he scored 15 times in 43 matches in all competitions, and that form earned him a big money move to Anfield in the summer of 2016, where he has once again produced the goods.

The 25-year-old is the Reds’ top goal-scorer with 13 goals in just 27 Premier League appearances, although it doesn’t appear likely that he’ll play again this season due to a knee injury he sustained in the Merseyside derby win over Everton at the start of the month.

Nonetheless, given that it’s Mane’s 25th birthday today, we at Shoot! have brought you FIVE things that you probably didn’t know about the Liverpool ace…

Klopp tried to sign him for Dortmund

Klopp’s Liverpool secured a deal for the 25-year-old last summer from Southampton, although that wasn’t the first time the Reds boss attempted to land the attacker.

The 49-year-old spoke to Mane back in 2014 about a potential transfer to Borussia Dortmund, before Klopp decided against chasing the Senegalese international, who then went on to join Southampton later in the year.

Klopp admits to making ‘a mistake’ back then, so it wasn’t a huge surprise to see him secure Mane’s services last summer.

Most expensive African player of all time

Mane became the most expensive African player of all time when Liverpool spent £34 million on him last summer.

The 25-year-old eclipsed the record set by Manchester United’s Eric Bailly earlier in the summer, and was also more expensive than the likes of Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba, and Yannick Bolasie.

And what’s more, it’s still a record he holds today.

Fastest ever Premier League hat-trick

While on the books at Southampton, Mane broke the record for the fastest ever Premier League hat-trick.

The Senegalese star netted his trio in just two minutes and 56 seconds in the Saints’ 6-1 hammering of Aston Villa back on May 16 2015, breaking Robbie Fowler’s four minutes and 33 second hat-trick against Arsenal back in 1994.

And since then, no-one has managed a trio quicker than the 25-year-old, another record of which he sits at the top.

Mane is teetotal

Like many footballers, Mane is teetotal.

He admitted in an interview with The Daily Mail’s Oliver Holt back in December 2016 that he ‘won’t touch alcohol’, and that ‘religion is very important to me’.

Shares birthday with Reds legend Ian Callaghan

Today (April 10) is also the birthday of Liverpool legend Ian Callaghan, the Reds’ record appearance-maker, so everyone here at Shoot! would like to wish him a very happy birthday!

The 75-year-old made 857 appearances for the Merseyside outfit between 1960 and 1978, including a record 644 league appearances, and 79 in the FA Cup.

Callaghan won five First Division titles, two FA Cups, two UEFA Cup crowns, and two European Cups during his time at the club, and was part of the England side that won the 1966 World Cup.

Mane shares his birthday with the Reds legend, and if he goes on to be half as successful as Callaghan, then Liverpool can look forward to the next few years with the Senegalese man part of their side.