Fabrizio Romano insists it was “impossible” for Liverpool to persuade Sadio Mane to stay at the club this summer as he pushed for a transfer to Bayern Munich.
The Senegal international was a star player for Jurgen Klopp’s side for many years and, if anything, he is gaining even more appreciation now that he is gone, with the Reds clearly missing what he brought to the team.
While Mohamed Salah has often drawn plaudits for his impressive scoring record up front, it’s clear that Mane was a major influence in making Liverpool a major attacking force.
However, Romano insists that Mane was clear after the Champions League final that he wanted to be allowed to move to Bayern, and that Liverpool never had a chance to change their minds.
“If you ask me, I don’t think selling Mane was a mistake, because when a player wants to leave, there’s no point in keeping him at the club,” Romano wrote in his CaughtOffside column on Substack.
“Mane repeatedly and with conviction asked to try a new experience, so in my opinion Liverpool have done well to accept and it will take time to start a new era without a star like Sadio.
“Change of opinion was impossible, after the final in Paris, Mane was clear with the club: he just wanted to sign for Bayern Munich”.
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Luckily for Liverpool, they already had Luis Diaz after signing him from Porto in January, while Darwin Núñez ended up joining from Benfica this summer.
On paper, Klopp’s attack still looks very strong, but it’s been a poor start to the season and they would surely be doing better if they still had Mane up front.
The 30-year-old has also started well at Bayern this season, scoring five goals in his first seven games for his new club.
