Sadio Mane may soon line-up against Liverpool as…

Sadio Mane may soon line-up against Liverpool as £17.4m issue clear

Former Liverpool striker Sadio Mane is expected to depart Bayern Munich after just one year this summer - with his wage demands potentially bringing about a Premier League return.

Mane called time on his trophy-laden spell at Anfield last summer. The Senegalese’s departure created a hole that has taken some time to fill for the Reds going forward as they missed his dynamic play for much of the current campaign.

But while he was feted at Liverpool, the 31-year-old has struggled at the reigning Bundesliga champions this season, starting just one of their last 11 games and having come under the spotlight for an ugly dressing room confrontation with team-mate Leroy Sane last month following a 3-0 Champions League defeat at the hands of Manchester City.

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Sky Germany report that new Munich manager Thomas Tuchel is set to try and offload Mane this summer. But while a return to Liverpool is not on the cards, reports suggest his salary of €20m (£17.4m) per year is something that could limit his options to only a handful of Premier League clubs, such is the spending power of England’s top tier in comparison to their European rivals.

While Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain may be able to be exceptions to the rule, the former have other expensive targets on their wish list this summer, most notably Jude Bellingham. Barca and PSG, meanwhile, need to cut costs, with the former having to shave more than £200m off their wage bill at the same time as attempting to bring back club legend Lionel Messi to the Nou Camp.

Liverpool were unable or unwilling to match the sums being offered to Mane at Bayern when he left last summer, especially at a time when they were re-engaging their superstar Mohamed Salah on a new deal that would make him the highest paid player in the club's history.

Newcastle United, who are favourites to nail down a Champions League spot for next season, would have the kind of resource and profile to attract a player of Mane’s quality, if he did find his time in Germany came to a premature end.

Mane, who has netted 12 goals in an injury-hit season that saw him miss the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, was a hero at Anfield thanks to a six-year spell that saw him score 120 goals in 269 games across all competitions. During his stay, the Reds won the Premier League, Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, FA Cup and League Cup.

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