Liverpool have something of a mountain to climb in the second half of the season due to their poor start to domestic football following the World Cup break.
Paul Merson credits the sale of Sadio Mane just at the start of the season as still contributing to the Reds’ current form, arguing that his former club would “buy him back in a heartbeat”.
“I have been saying it from the beginning: selling Sadio Mane was a bad decision. If he was for sale again they would buy him back in a heartbeat,” the former Arsenal star told Sportskeeda.
“He was a massive part of that team and he didn’t get the credit he deserved.
“Liverpool sold one of their best players for barely any money and it’s coming back to bite them.”
The Senegalese international has registered 11 goals in all competitions this season, a tally his former team certainly could have made at points this season when the likes of Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz have been injured.
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The forward line has looked somewhat blunt for much of the campaign, with systemic issues leaving talismanic Mo Salah increasingly isolated, while new boys Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo continue to find their place in the famed red jersey. .
In the midst of a period of such significant changes, a drop from the lofty heights we have recently experienced was to be expected (especially compared to the nearby 2021/22 season). Although perhaps not as much as we have seen this term.
Given that we are already weighing the benefits of retaining Bobby Firmino, 31, beyond the expiration of his contract this summer, it doesn’t seem like a step forward to consider the return of Mane (30).
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