Sadio Mane was one of the stars of the show again on Tuesday night as he scored and assisted in Liverpool ’s dominant 4-0 victory over Manchester United.
This came on the back of his standout performance at Wembley three days earlier where he netted twice in the Reds' 3-2 FA Cup semi-final win against Manchester City.
Those goals have taken his tally across all competitions this season to 19, highlighting how he remains one of the most lethal forwards in the country. The Senegal international is also still a firm fan-favourite on the Kop, and one of Jurgen Klopp’s most valued assets.
It therefore seems hard to comprehend that he’s soon to be heading into the final year of his current Anfield deal, with an extension so far not forthcoming. There has been a new deal offered for Mohamed Salah, whose contract is due to expire at the same time, suggesting that the club are content with allowing Mane to leave for free next summer.
Liverpool seem to have been preparing for this outcome for some time by taking steps to find suitable candidates to replace him.
Diogo Jota, a right-footed left-sided attacker, was recruited in the summer of 2020. That successful deal was then supplemented by the arrival Luis Diaz in January who like Jota hasn’t taken long to acclimatise to his new surroundings and scored his fourth Liverpool goal against United on Tuesday night.
Jota’s versatility, able to play just as proficiently through the middle as out on the left, meant it wasn’t guaranteed he was going to be Mane’s heir. However, there’s less uncertainty about Diaz in this sense. He’s five years younger than Mane and has played almost exclusively as a left-sided attacker throughout his career so far, and has continued to play that role for Liverpool since arriving.
Mane though, rather than allow himself to be pushed to the sidelines has instead grasped the opportunity presented to him by Klopp to thrive playing through the middle as the team’s ‘number nine’.
That’s a role that Roberto Firmino has excelled within for much of Klopp’s time at Anfield. The Brazilian almost operates like an advanced pivot inside the attacking third for Liverpool, dropping in between the lines, linking play and creating spaces for others to exploit.
It’s hard to think of any player anywhere who does that role better than Fimrino, yet he’s been unable to avoid criticism at times throughout his Liverpool career, chastised for being less reliable in front of goal than each of Mane and Salah on either side of him. There’s some truth in those accusations which is why Jota, a lethal finisher, has often started ahead of him in more recent times.
While the Portuguese international tends to convert more chances, he can’t replicate the all-round influence in the attacking third that Firmino has, meaning Klopp has had to bounce between the two depending on the needs of the team on the day.
In recent weeks though playing through the middle, Mane has illustrated himself as almost a blend of the best of both Firmino and Jota. This was captured perfectly on Tuesday night when the Senegalese star was influential in three of Liverpool’s four goals on the night.
For the first, he dropped deep to receive the ball on the halfway line, bringing Harry Maguire with him and therein opening a gap for Salah to run into. Mane then threaded a pass through to Salah who in turn put it on a plate for Diaz to open the scoring.
Mane then delivered a deft pass that Firmino would have been proud of for Salah to grab the second, before capping his night off with an exquisite finish of his own for the third.
We’re seeing real evidence of Mane reinventing himself at Liverpool.
There’s a case to be made that with Diaz, and to an extent Jota, he’s no longer needed on the left. Although the role through the middle is arguably still up for grabs in Klopp’s side.
Mane is at the moment doing everything right to stake a claim to make that position his own going forward, and that could change the discussion around his immediate future at the club. If he can continue to illustrate himself as the club’s best and most dangerous option through the middle, then it seems illogical that the club wouldn’t make moves to extend his stay for a few more years at least.
