For now, it is still a question of whether Sadio Mane will leave Liverpool this summer, not yet when.
If he does though - and that will depend both on how forcibly he pushes for an exit, and how much money any potential suitor will offer - then other pressing questions will equally follow. Perhaps the biggest one of all is what happens to Mo Salah? Since he arrived at Anfield, Mane has been a constant; a key element in the success of the club, and of Salah himself.
Without Mane, will the Egypt star still thrive? There are no guarantees. Liverpool’s system allows Salah, and Trent Alexander-Arnold, freedom to stay high, because others compensate with defensive duties. Mane’s workrate is a key element of that, and his value to the team is so evident in the fact that Jurgen Klopp so rarely rests him.
So any replacement will have to match the Senegal international’s energy, and produce a willingness to put as much into tracking back as he does going forward. There are few in world football who have the star quality of Mane and can combine it with such a solid team ethic. There are some who believe Liverpool’s capture of Fabio Carvalho is as a direct replacement for Mane.
He will not, after all, be loaned out next season, despite his tender years, and he has a quality which has generated excitement across Europe. More likely though, if Mane leaves, Liverpool will line up a more experienced replacement for the now, with Carvalho seen as the future - and that makes the narrative around Salah fascinating.
A Mane replacement does not come cheap, and expensive players demand massive wages. Salah’s assertion that he is “staying next season for sure” hints at a tactic to put pressure on Liverpool. If they refuse to meet his salary demands, he will leave on a free at the end of his current contract when it expires in 2023. And that means no transfer fee to potentially buy a replacement.
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So any big contracts given out to a new forward will make him feel even more justified in his stance, and surely even more determined to get the money he is asking for in contract talks. It leaves Liverpool with a dilemma. It is clear one of the reasons Mane is apparently keen to pursue a new challenge with a different club, is that his own contract demands have not been met.
Losing one huge star would be bad enough, but losing two would be catastrophic for Liverpool, and Mane’s departure could actually help his team-mate to finally secure the deal he wants. Liverpool may consider that the prospect of losing two of their most valuable players for nothing is reckless, and find a way to bend to Salah’s wishes.
It is a fascinating scenario that could play into the Egyptian’s hands. If Mane goes to a huge club like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Barcelona and secures a massive contract then the market value is set, and Liverpool will have to consider that in any calculations.
The other question for Salah is on the identity of any replacement. Do Liverpool go like for like, or do they find a centre forward - the position Mane has filled frequently and brilliantly since the arrival of Luis Diaz? Klopp will want another forward, no doubt. There has been what frankly seems like fanciful talk of a move for Robert Lewandowski, but what about the likes of Harry Kane? He now often plays as a deeper nine, similar to Roberto Firmino, and can help feed Salah.
If Kane did become available - unlikely in the extreme - it would be for a huge fee and similar sized wages, which again raises serious questions about Salah’s contract. More likely is the club’s inventive analytical team will find another player like Diaz or Jota, or even Mane and Salah: for a big fee yes, but not superstars, more likely young players who will develop, just like those four have under Klopp.
And if they do, then surely it will help Salah... because they will need more than ever that star name at the top end of the pitch to deliver the goals which took Liverpool so close to greatness this season.
