As Sadio Mane's protracted transfer to Bayern Munich continues to dominate the football news agenda, a Liverpool legend still hopes the Senegalese star will stay at Anfield.
And Ian Rush has warned his former club they can ill-afford to lose a player of Mane's quality and importance while trying to hunt down Manchester City.
Despite enjoying a remarkable season, in which they still could have won an unprecedented quadruple with just a week of the season remaining, Jurgen Klopp's side lost the Premier League title by a point to City, who have been champions of England for four of the last five seasons.
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Pep Guardiola's side have moved to strengthen their hand even further by signing Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund and Rush believes this is no time for Liverpool to sell one of their most important players.
Rush, the Reds' all-time record goalscorer, told Gambling.com : “What Liverpool need to be doing right now is strengthening their squad, and letting Mane go isn’t going to do that. We need to prepare ourselves for how strong Manchester City are going to be next year because they’re already looking formidable. They’re going to be stronger, so we have to be stronger too. It’s a big concern because nobody wants Mane to leave, especially with the form he’s been in this year.
“I’m still hopeful that all three will stay – Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino – and I’m sure Jurgen Klopp feels the same, so let’s hope something can be sorted out. If any of them were to leave, it would be a big disappointment, but we’d just have to look to the future regardless.”
Bayern have already had one offer of £21million plus £4million in add-ons turned down by Liverpool. The player himself has perplexed supporters and on-lookers with a series of cryptic comments in the past week, at one point suggesting that he would leave it up to the Senegalese people to decide where he plays his football next season.
