Former Liverpool star Danny Murphy believes his old club may already have a “replacement” for Sadio Mane.
The Reds forward continues to be linked with a move away from Anfield this summer, with Bayern Munich showing an interest. The 30-year-old is also being credited as a possible target for Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
Liverpool have rejected Bayern's opening approach for Sadio Mane, deeming their total offer worth £25million an unreasonable valuation of the Senegalese international. The Bundesliga outfit tabled a fee believed to be £21million plus £4million in add-ons - a large chunk of which would only be earned should Julian Nagelsmann’s side win the Champions League in the future.
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With Mane’s future up in the air, former Red Danny Murphy thinks that Liverpool may already have a “replacement” in their ranks. The ex-midfielder believes that Luis Diaz has shown himself to be capable of filling in the Mane role during his brief time with the club so far.
“It does seem that there’s been an obvious effort from Liverpool to replace him,” Murphy told Talksport.
“When you think of the way Luis Diaz has come in, playing off that left-hand side generally – because Mane has been through the middle a lot, especially towards the end of the season.
“He’s tenacious, he’s a goal-scorer, he plays with the same energy, the tenacity, all those things that Mane gives, Diaz is very similar with his traits.
“So he looks like a replacement, if you like, for Mane.”
