The Senegal star is a modern-day Reds great, but he should have no part to play in Jurgen Klopp's Anfield rebuild
He will always have a place in Liverpool’s glorious past, but Sadio Mane should have no part to play in the Reds’ future.
The Senegal international could well be looking for a new club this summer, with his violent clash with teammate Leroy Sane casting serious doubts over his Bayern Munich future.
Reports in Germany, indeed, suggest the Bundesliga champions are ready to cut their losses on the 31-year-old, just 12 months after they paid £35 million ($43m) to bring him from Liverpool.
Naturally, that has led some to speculate whether a return to Anfield, where Mane enjoyed such wonderful success during six trophy-laden years, could be on the cards. Liverpool sources have offered little encouragement to such stories, in fairness, and understandably so.
Because a Mane return, as romantic as it sounds, makes little sense for Jurgen Klopp’s side, and here's why…
Getty ImagesA difficult year
Having arrived amid much fanfare, it is fair to say that Mane’s debut season at Bayern has gone far from smoothly.
It started OK, with five goals in his first six appearances suggesting he could at least help plug the gap left by Robert Lewandowski’s departure, but as early as September there were signs of trouble ahead. He was criticised after a poor performance in a Champions League group match against Lewandowski’s Barcelona, with coach Julian Nagelsmann admitting he needed more from the forward, suggesting Mane needed to add some “positive arrogance” to his game.
Mane had netted 11 goals by the end of October, but in the 6-1 win over Werder Bremen on November 8, he suffered an injury that would rule him out of Senegal’s World Cup campaign, and which would keep him sidelined for almost three months in total.
He returned towards the end of February, but has not scored in 10 appearances since. He was reported to have rowed with Nagelsmann after the Champions League last-16 win over Paris Saint-Germain in March, and then clashed in the dressing room with Sane following the quarter-final first-leg defeat at Manchester City earlier this month.
That led to a one-game suspension from the club, as well as a hefty fine. Sky Germany have since reported that Bayern will “try everything” to offload Mane at the end of the season, with Nagelsmann’s replacement, Thomas Tuchel, planning a system without the former Salzburg and Southampton man.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLiverpool's summer plans
So what chance of a return to Liverpool, then? There will be plenty of Reds fans keen on the idea. Mane, after all, achieved so much during his time on Merseyside, scoring 120 goals in 269 appearances and winning every major club honour possible. Few players had more influence on the club’s success under Klopp than he did.
But Liverpool’s priorities this summer lie elsewhere. Their midfield is in need of a serious (and expensive) overhaul, and they could well be in the market for a centre-back and a back-up goalkeeper too, if certain departures are given the green light.
They expect to spend good money, with the likes of Mason Mount, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo all on their list of potential targets.
What they aren’t planning on doing, at this stage at least, is recruiting another first-team forward, especially one the wrong side of 30, who favours the left of the attack and who would command the kind of wages and playing-time expectation as Mane. It might make sense in terms of narrative, but not logistically.
GettyThe Reds' new forward line
In contrast to their midfield, which has been allowed to grow old and more than a little stale, Liverpool have been proactive in reshaping their attack in recent years.
Diogo Jota’s arrival in 2020 turned an established three (Mane, Mohamed Salah & Roberto Firmino) into a fab four, while the signing of Luis Diaz at the end of January 2022 was done to offset the departure of Mane, which came a few months later, just after Darwin Nunez had been brought to the club.
Likewise, buying Cody Gakpo this January should enable the Reds to cover for the exit of Firmino, who is leaving on a free transfer at the end of the season.
It means Klopp will have five high-class attackers at his disposal, four of them aged 26 or under and all of them capable of playing in multiple positions across the forward line. Add to that younger talents such as Harvey Elliott, Fabio Carvalho and Ben Doak, and it is hard to see Liverpool entering the market for another frontman this summer.
GettyThe Klopp relationship
Perhaps as pertinent a question is whether Mane would even want to return to Liverpool, and whether Klopp would want to welcome him back.
The pair clearly have a lot of mutual respect for one another – how could they not, having shared such wonderful times together? – but their relationship was far from perfect, particularly in Mane’s final season with the club, when it became apparent that he was looking to move on.
Stories that Mane felt undervalued at Liverpool may have been a little overplayed, but did contain an element of truth. Had the Reds offered him a contract comparable with that given to Salah last summer, for example, then the feeling is he would have signed it in a flash.
Mane has spoken well of Klopp since leaving, and retains good friendships with just about all of the current squad. When it became clear he would miss the World Cup, some of the first messages he received were from the likes of Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk and Salah. Plenty within Liverpool – Andy Robertson, for starters – would welcome him back with open arms.