For the tens of thousands of Liverpool fans who thronged the city streets on Sunday, their last sight of Sadio Mane in a Reds shirt may well be of him looking glum on the open-top bus parade.
As Mane surveyed the sea of red below him, holding the Carabao Cup, he had already decided he wanted to say goodbye to all of this after six successful years. Mane is expected to tell the club he wants to leave and Bayern Munich believe the Senegal star will be heading to Bavaria.
Bayern have a three-year deal worth £250,000-a-week waiting for Mane to sign and CEO Oliver Kahn gave him a final once-over in Saturday’s Champions League final loss to Real Madrid. Liverpool want at least £35million to let him leave with a year remaining on his Anfield contract and must now ponder: How do you solve a problem like Mane?
Mane has been a star for Liverpool since he announced his arrival from Southampton for £30m in August 2016 with his stunning solo goal on his debut against Arsenal at the Emirates. In many ways, he was the catalyst for Liverpool’s rise under Jurgen Klopp and his fingerprints are all over the six trophies they have won in the last four seasons.
He has an impressive 120 goals and 37 assists in his 269 games even though he is not a natural striker, and only Mohamed Salah can better that strike rate for Liverpool. Mane was Liverpool’s second top scorer in the Premier League last season, managing 16 - and 23 in all competitions. The African turned 30 in April and Liverpool knew their fabled front three of him, Salah and Roberto Firmino were ageing and began the process of replacing them by signing Diogo Jota in 2020 and then Luis Diaz in January. Diaz replaced Mane on the left of Liverpool’s attack and Klopp accommodated him in his front three by moving him into the middle.
Jota can replace Mane’s goals and he scored 21 times last season, including 15 in the Premier League, and he is more of an out-and-out striker than the former Saints star. But no-one can match Mane’s work rate and he is superb at leading their high press. He demonstrated that against Real and he won the ball back repeatedly in the first half when Liverpool had the Spanish side under constant pressure. That is a problem for Liverpool and there are few players in world football with Mane’s perfect blend of goals, creativity and work rate.
Liverpool are signing Portuguese teen sensation Fabio Carvalho from Fulham this summer and he will be fast-tracked into the Klopp’s first-team squad to help replace Mane. Liverpool may feel they have enough with Carvalho, Diaz and Jota to cope with Mane’s loss, but last season has underlined the importance of having a strong squad and Klopp may want a replacement.
Have Your Say! Who should Liverpool sign to replace Sadio Mane? Join the debate here.
French attacker Ousmane Dembele is available on a free from Barcelona, while Liverpool have also been linked with Villarreal’s Arnaut Danjuma, who was the star of their run to the Champions League semi-finals. For all of Liverpool’s attacking power, they did not score in any of their three finals - and Benfica’s Darwin Nunez would be an option if Klopp wanted a No 9.
Nunez impressed in both Champions League games against Liverpool and is available this summer. Liverpool fans with long memories will not fret at Mane’s likely departure and they will remember the doom-mongering when Kevin Keegan left in 1977, Ian Rush in 1987, Michael Owen in 2004 and Fernando Torres in 2011. On each occasion, Liverpool survived and even thrived by winning a major trophy the following season. Now Liverpool must ensure that is the case again for Mane in 2022.
