Sadio Mane appears to be suffering the effects of Liverpool’s relentless season as much as his former team-mates, with his form at Bayern Munich now in doubt.
It has been suggested in recent weeks that, as the Reds struggle for fluidity on the pitch, the impact of Mane’s £35.1m move to Bayern was greater than expected.
Admittedly, his replacement, Darwin Nunez, has struggled for form in his first few months on Merseyside, and Jurgen Klopp is clearly not convinced at this point that the £85m signing is ready to hit the big games.
But it is questionable whether the loss of Mane is the main cause of Liverpool’s malaise, despite the Senegal international’s exceptional form over six seasons at Anfield.
The 30-year-old began his life in Munich as he left it at his old club: with five goals in his first five matches, including against RB Leipzig on his DFL-Supercup debut.
However, he now has five games without scoring and questions are being asked about his general form, with manager Julian Nagelsmann hinting at the physical cost of life in Liverpool.
“He put so much into it for Liverpool,” he told reporters after Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Barcelona.
“It’s a new signing. You just need to adapt. He was trying. I am sure that he will be successful for us.”
Meanwhile, Raphael Honigstein of The Athletic claims that Mane “has recently regressed so much that he’s hardly a factor in the attack.”
“Against Barcelona he was lacking in strength and momentum,” added the German journalist.
“His attempts to attack defenders and cut inside from his starting position on the left side also felt distinctly lukewarm.”
Honigstein criticized Mane’s 70-minute performance against Barcelona as “strangely static”, explaining that “of all the problems Nagelsmann has faced this season, Mane’s lack of performance is easily the most unexpected”.
The headline’s assessment is: “There’s something quite unsettling about your big star buy playing so off the beaten path.”
Oddly, Nagelsmann suggested that Mane had not been a regular at Liverpool’s left-back last season, attributing it to his struggle in the role midweek.
Although he finished the campaign as a centre-forward, a position he also assumed upon joining Bayern, 30 of his 51 appearances for the Reds in the 2021/22 campaign were as a left winger.
It’s not uncommon for Mane to go through quiet periods, particularly in front of goal.
But it is certainly interesting that the impact of a quad chase season is now being talked about in Germany as it has been on Merseyside.
