Running down the wing, hear the Kopites sing. Mane! Since that very first moment he cut inside at the Emirates, darting past Nacho Monreal and Calum Chambers, before thundering past Petr Cech and leaping into Jurgen Klopp’s arms, Liverpool fans were hooked.
The first marquee signing of the Klopp era at Anfield, joining from Southampton in a £33.5m deal, the Reds side Sadio Mane joined in the summer of 2016 are very different to the one he departs today. Then not even competing in Europe, it was the Senegalese who scored the goals to help fire Liverpool back into the Champions League for only the second time since 2009.
It was the Senegalese scoring goal after goal as Klopp turned doubters from believers and his team marched on Kiev to lock horns with Real Madrid in the 2018 Champions League final. And it was the Senegalese who continued scoring so many crucial goals in this glorious chapter of Reds history as, to paraphrase one legendary manager, they conquered the bloody world.
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Champions of England, Europe and the world, while also winning the European Super Cup, League Cup and FA Cup - Mane completed the silverware set in his six years on Merseyside. Falling narrowly short in Liverpool’s efforts for an unprecedented quadruple, the only regret is he only ever won each accolade once.
Some will question his decision to walk away from Anfield now after a €41m package was agreed with Bayern Munich for the 30-year-old. After all, why crave a new challenge elsewhere when Klopp’s Reds are one of the few sides in European football best-placed to win trophies year after year.
But by departing, Mane can finally step out of Mohamed Salah’s shadow. Seemingly replacing Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich, he is set to become the Bavarians’ leading man. With no Manchester City to contend with, league titles will inevitably follow year after year and he’ll have faith in his new side’s attempts to conquer all of Europe at his soon to be former club’s expense.
Yet even though this day has been long since been coming, and in some ways is a blessing, Mane’s exit still leaves a strange feeling at Anfield. After all, it has been four years since Liverpool last had their hand forced into selling one of their most prized assets, when Philippe Coutinho departed for Barcelona in a £142m deal.
On that occasion, the Reds rebuilt by bringing in Virgil van Dijk, Alisson and Fabinho. The Brazilian’s exit, following in the footsteps of the likes of Michael Owen, Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling in departing for greater heights elsewhere, arguably helped make Klopp’s side into what they are today.
But for so long the footballing bridesmaid, Liverpool’s success in recent years under Klopp has seen them finally become the bride. Yet, on the verge of greater honours, Mane has now left them at the altar.
He’d hinted this was coming, of course, speaking both before the Champions League final and away on international duty. Teasing that he had plenty to say and was prepared to walk away with comments that inevitably prompted raised eyebrows back on Merseyside and suggested he was taking for granted what he already had.
And while the tone of such comments was ill-advised, in truth if you look at it from Mane’s view, you can’t blame his stance. After all, now the wrong side of 30 and out of contract next summer, has he ultimately walked before being pushed?
Initially a right-winger when joining from Southampton in 2016, he was the Reds’ joint-Premier League leading goalscorer in that first season with 13 goals and would have scored more had his campaign not been ended by injury. His reward? To have that position taken by new signing Mohamed Salah as he was switched to the left.
Sure, he thrived in such a role but always in the Egyptian King’s shadow. Delivering over 20 goals year after year, he found himself outscored by Salah and even in the title-winning year where he threatened to wrestle control of centre stage, the pandemic stole his thunder.
And then he saw Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz both signed as his place on the left came under threat. Moved central after beating Salah to Africa Cup of Nations glory, he still shone as Liverpool chased an unprecedented quadruple, but such transfers were always made with life after Mane in mind, with his latest positional change perhaps a sign of prioritising the future at the expense of the present.
Klopp and Reds fans inevitably want the 30-year-old to stay. But as talks about new contracts wore on, it was always crystal clear where the priority lied when it came to Salah and Mane’s futures. With both African giants also battling for Golden Boots and Ballon d’Ors, it was always the Egyptian leading the way.
Like Neymar’s decision to depart Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain, to make his own name away from Lionel Messi, perhaps Mane now wants to shine on his own. Ultimately, he needed to break free.
Liverpool were never going to be able to keep all of Mane, Salah and Roberto Firmino beyond their contract expiries in 2023. With the trio all the same age and out of the contract at the same time, the Reds were always facing this dreaded prospect of requiring a sudden overhaul upfront and have ultimately had the first difficult decision taken out of their hands.
In truth, it is a blessing that Mane has forced Liverpool's hands by pushing for an exit now, 12 months ahead of his contract expiry. Along with Tottenham Hotspur’s effort to sign Diaz seeing the Reds move for the Colombian six months early back in January, it has enabled club bosses to maintain some stability and establish a gradual passing on of the baton rather than risk a complete overhaul next summer.
Tears won’t be shed at Mane’s exit despite the legendary legacy he leaves behind. Delivering 120 goals and six trophies, Liverpool have got their money’s worth and an £85m replacement in Darwin Nunez already has imaginations running wild.
The Reds have been preparing themselves for this day, the day their famous front three would be broken up once and for all, for a number of years now. They have successfully retained the trio’s services for their prime years, with Mane only now taking his future into his own hands and inflicting this new dawn at Anfield in the process.
How inconsolable would supporters be at their number 10’s exit if Salah was not still around? And how different would things be if the pandemic hadn’t denied him the Premier League-winning plaudits he deserved or if he was exiting on a high off the back of a quadruple? Rather than depart in a blaze of glory, he exits leaving behind a final unfulfilled itch of what else could have been.
Regardless, after six stupendous seasons, Mane and Liverpool must now go their separate ways. Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.
There might have been more juice to squeeze from this illustrious partnership but, unlike previous exits which left Reds wondering where on earth they go from here, the destination for Klopp’s side without Mane remains exactly the same even if they must now slightly alter course.
