Mane leaves Southampton for Anfield
Liverpool have officially completed the signing for forward Sadio Mane from Southampton.
The Senegal attacker has signed a 5-year deal under Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, with the fee thought to be around the £34million mark, along with over £2million worth of performance-related add-ons. He becomes the 5th Southampton player to move to Liverpool in just 2 years.
The 24-year-old becomes Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s fourth new signing for the 2016/17 season, following deals for midfielder Marko Grujic, centre-back Joel Matip and goalkeeper Loris Karius.
The sizeable fee makes him Liverpool’s 2nd ever most expensive player, just marginally behind the £35million Andy Carroll move in 2011.
Mane has scored 21 Premier League goals in 67 games since signing for Southampton from Red Bull Salzburg two years ago, and it was thought that he impressed Klopp in Southampton’s 3-2 league win over Liverpool in March, a game in which the Saints were 2-0 down and Mane scored 2 of the goals in the comeback that gave them the 3 points.
The man in more detail
Mane is going to help improve Klopp’s attack in several areas. His preferred position is a winger, which is really what the Liverpool team was crying out for last season. The only out-and-out wide man that Liverpool seem to have is Jordan Ibe, and Adam Lallana can play out wide too. Apart from that, it’s an area the Reds are lacking in, and Mane will help with that.
The vital trait of any good winger is pace, which is what Liverpool are lacking and is again what Mane has plenty of.
He managed 11 goals in the Premier League, more than any Liverpoool man, while only Sturridge bettered his number of on target attempts per game. He also registered six assists with those goals and a total of 1.1 key passes per game, a total only Firmino managed to better last season. When it came to dribbling, crossing and passing though, he came out far on top of any of the Liverpool forwards last season.
It’s reported that the reason Liverpool kept up their persuit of Mane despite such a high asking price was because Klopp feels the player is worth it. It remains to be seen whether Mane can keep up the form when he starts his career at Anfield. His stats do suggest a significant upgrade on the other players currently at the club.
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10
