Pundit Micah Richards has named Sadio Mane as his player of the season and says the Liverpool star is 'underrated'.
The Senegal international was on the scoresheet in the Reds' 4-0 win over Manchester United earlier in the week, he also set up Mohamed Salah's first of the night with a sublime assist.
Mane also scored twice to book Jurgen Klopp's side a place in the FA Cup final with a 3-2 win over Man City last Sunday. The 30-year-old has scored 19 goals in all competitions for Liverpool so far this season.
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Having won the Africa Cup of Nations with his national side and guiding them to qualification for the 2022 World Cup, Richards believes Mane would be a worthy winner of the Player of the Year award.
He wrote in his column for the Mail : "I came away from the stadium [after FA Cup semi-final] with my mind made up: If I had a vote in the PFA Player of the Year awards, I would cast mine for Mane. I don’t know why it is but I’m still not totally sure that it gets recognised just how good this guy actually is.
"Let’s frame it this way: his assist for Mohamed Salah’s first goal in Tuesday’s 4-0 drubbing of Manchester United – if Dennis Bergkamp had produced a pass like that during his career, we’d still be seeing clips of it now, several days after. It was absolutely outstanding!
"That’s what Mane is all about: being there to influence games. Salah, understandably, gets the headlines and I suspect he will be many people’s idea of the season’s top performer and is understandably favourite to get the award, for what would be his second time, but Mane shades it, as far as I am concerned, when you look at the bigger picture."
