The current summer transfer window has seen some massive signings starting from Erling Haaland to Manchester City to Aurelien Tchouameni who joined Real Madrid for a massive transfer fee. Apart from that many high profile players have shifted loyalties like Robert Lewandowski, Lisando Martinez, Kalidou Koulibaly, etc. While there can be several impacts of these signings, one departure that was very emotional was Sadio Mane leaving Liverpool and joining Bayern Munich.
Mane was a part of the club for many years as they formed an attacking trio with Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp. They won the Premier League after so many years and also clinched the Champions League and almost won it again last season. But Mane decided to move away looking for a different challenge at the Allianz Arena.
While Liverpool have the likes of Luis Diaz who arrived in January and also the high profile signing of Darwin Nunez to compensate for the goals scored by Mane.Nunez was bought with a massive fee as Klopp thought the club needed some firepower upfront and the scarcity of quality strikers saw his stock rise.
However Chelsea goalkeeper and Mane’s compatriot Edouard Mendy is not very sure that allowing Mane to leave was such a good move. Mane stayed at Anfield for six glorious years and have seen the club rise through the ranks again. He scored 120 goals alongwith 48 assists in his 269 matches across different competitions for the Reds.
Therefore Medny feels it is a big loss for the Premier League not only from a player’s perspective but also as a personality. He shared, “I think it is a big loss for the Premier League in terms of quality and in terms of the person. We’ve lost someone great and I hope for him he will enjoy the Bundesliga.”
The Senegalese custodian also shared how losing Mane can be a massive impact as he has been the inspiration for the youngsters. He understands that Liverpool have brought replacements to fill up the gap but he feels that losing someone of that stature can have major repurcussions.
“He’s also a big loss [to Liverpool] because of his quality, the impact he makes and also because, for the young players, he’s an example. When you lose someone like this, it can have a huge impact.”
But Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will hope that his big money signing Darwin Nunez who arrived from SL Benfica creates his own legacy at the Anfield and has similar impact if not better. But Mane’s departure also made him emotional as he was very close to the player.