Liverpool fans are missing Sadio Mane more than ever following their FA Cup exit – with some now believing he was the ‘glue’ that held everything together for Jurgen Klopp.
The Senegal forward moved to the Bundesliga for an initial fee of £27.4million having failed to agree a new contract at Anfield, since going on to score 11 goals in 23 games.
Despite Liverpool bringing in Darwin Nunez as a replacement, they have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup and now FA Cup while struggling in the Premier League and drawing Real Madrid in the Champions League.
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Following their FA Cup exit at the fourth round stage against Brighton, having won the competition last season, one fan wrote: “Without Sadio Mane we are walking alone every game.”
Sharing a clip of Mane scoring for Bayern Munich, another fan wrote with a crying emoji: “Mane was the glue.”
A third said: “The more I think about it, the more I think there are multiple problems at Liverpool, but one stands above all. There wasn’t a proper replacement of Sadio Mane.”
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A rival fan then said: “Liverpool spent €122million (£106m) for Darwin Nunez & Cody Gakpo. It would’ve been cheaper to keep Sadio Mane & they would’ve still been competing with the big boys.”
Liverpool crashed out in injury time after Lewis Dunk had cancelled out Harvey Elliot’s opener with Kaoru Mitoma the hero thanks to his quick thinking inside the box.
Having gone to within two wins of a historic quadruple last season, Mane netted 23 goals in all competitions before his time at the club came to an end.
(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
The 30-year-old managed 120 goals in total from his 269 outings, helping the club to Champions League and Premier League glory in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Earlier in the season Klopp spoke about the departure of Mane – and didn’t want it to come across as he was missing him.
“A good guy and a top player. But missing it sounds like I still want him here. I think it’s really okay that Sadio just wanted to do something different,” Klopp told Sky Germany.
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