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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Dan Brown

Liverpool told they have found their new Sadio Mane with 'integral' part of Jurgen Klopp's squad

Garth Crooks has suggested that Luis Diaz can fulfil the difficult task of replacing Sadio Mane at Liverpool after the Senegalese attacker left the Reds in the summer.

Mane registered 120 goals and 48 assists in 269 appearances for the Reds, but the attacker completed a £35m move to Bayern Munich on a three-year contract in June.

Liverpool turned down two bids from Bayern before agreeing a fee for Mane, who helped Jurgen Klopp's side win the Champions League and the Premier League.

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The Reds moved quickly to sign Uruguay forward Darwin Nunez from Benfica for an initial £64m. However, Crooks believes that it is winger Diaz who could prove to be Mane's long-term replacement.

The Colombian attacker has been a revelation since arriving at Anfield and grabbed four goals in 13 Premier League matches last season during his first few months with the club.

Diaz, who has already registered three goals in four top-flight appearances this season, was impressive against Bournemouth in Liverpool's 9-0 thrashing of the Cherries.

As a result, he found himself in Crooks' BBC Team of the Week - and the former Tottenham Hotspur man was extremely complementary of the 25-year-old.

"His first headed goal was absolutely superb and the second just as good," Crooks wrote in his column for BBC Sport. "Against Bournemouth, Diaz wasn’t only finding the net; he also looked an integral part of the production on the Anfield stage.

"For the first time I got the impression the Colombian might fill the vacuum left by Sadio Mane’s departure."

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