No player on his own is big enough to replace Sadio Mane, but 'forgotten' Diogo Jota can play a big role in filling the hole left behind, according to Darren Bent.
The sight of Liverpool's now former star forward sporting a Bayern Munich shirt on Wednesday left many supporters deflated after the Senegalese striker completed his £35million move to the German champions. Jurgen Klopp has already moved quickly to bring in striker Darwin Nunez, but the task of replacing a player who scored 121 goals for the Reds over six season will be a difficult one.
However, former England striker and TalkSPORT presenter Bent believes that the other attacking talent at Anfield can pull together to make up for Mane's absence and is backing Portuguese international Jota to step up to the plate in Mane's absence.
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Speaking about Mane's exit on his radio show, Bent said: “I don’t think you can replace him straight away just man-for-man because I think he’s too good. But if (Luis) Diaz gets his numbers up in terms of goals and assists and Jota’s scoring goals… He was kind of the forgotten man towards the end of last season but he stepped in and was brilliant. Diaz, (Roberto) Firmino’s still there and obviously (Mohamed) Salah speaks for himself, so they’ve still got so many different options in that front three area.”
Jota was an instant hit after joining the Reds for an initial fee of £41million, scoring 13 goals in 30 appearances and forcing Robert Firmino out of the front three in the process. Last season Jota netted 21 times in all competitions but after suffering an injury against Inter Milan in the Champions League back in February, the former Wolves star struggled to make the same impact on his return and saw his game time reduced thanks to the form of January signing Luis Diaz.
But with Mane now in Germany, Jota will have the opportunity to re-stake his claim next season as the Liverpool forward line continues to evolve.
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