Jurgen Klopp has said there was one player he managed during his time at Liverpool who he ‘could sing a song about’, such was the impression that he made.
It was 10 years ago last week that Sadio Mané scored twice for Southampton in a comeback victory over the Reds, for whom he would sign a few months later. He was joined at Anfield the following year by Mo Salah, and thus the legendary attacking trident of the African duo and Bobby Firmino was formed.
The Egyptian King was by far the most prolific of the three, but each of them contributed plentifully in the goalscoring stakes and they were poetry in motion to watch as a collective in the five season that they played together.
Klopp is back on Merseyside to fulfil the role of assitant to Sir Kenny Dalglish in the Liverpool Legends match against Borussia Dortmund this afternoon, and speaking at a visit to the LFC Foundation Community Hub, our former manager lauded the Senegalese forward, who left the Reds in 2022.
Reflecting on the gradual transition of playing personnel in his time at Anfield, the 58-year-old gushed (via Daily Mail): “We lost Sadio Mané. We could sing a song about him. What a player he was!”
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Such has been Salah’s history-making impact at Liverpool that it’d be easy to fall into the trap of underappreciating just how sublime Mané had been for the Reds in his six seasons with the club.
He racked up 120 goals in 269 appearances on Merseyside, and without his output during his debut campaign in 2016/17, Klopp’s side wouldn’t have qualified for the following year’s Champions League, let along made it to the final (in which he scored against Real Madrid).
He was the Premier League’s joint-top scorer in 2018/29 with 22 goals, none of which were penalties, and Graeme Souness – who was anything but a shrinking violet in his playing days – lauded the ‘warrior’ qualities of the Senegalese attacker on the pitch, adding: ‘I can’t tell you what he hasn’t got’ (lfchistory.net).
A delightful combination of strength, finesse and trickery (whilst also being admirably humble), Mané was integral to Liverpool’s success during the peak years of the Klopp era. He mightn’t have stayed as long as Salah or scored quite as many goals as the Egyptian, but his role in a glorious era for the club is no less praiseworthy.
If he were to be part of the LFC Legends circuit in future years, he’d be assured of one of the most raucous welcomes at Anfield!
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To be honest I don’t know why we let him leave. He is truly a great left attacker, even better than Diaz in his prime.
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