In the two summer transfer windows that preceded Jurgen Klopp‘s arrival in Merseyside, Liverpool‘s two prized forwards left after making clear of their intentions to move on: Luis Suarez joined Barcelona for £75m in 2014, and Raheem Sterling moved to Manchester City for £50m a year later.
In January 2018, just over two years into Klopp’s time in charge, another influential, high-profile attacking player was sold with Philippe Coutinho following Suarez to the Nou Camp in a deal worth up to £142m.
Each time, a desire to win major honours was cited as a key factor behind the players’ desire to move; Liverpool had last won a domestic league title in 1990 and a Champions League in 2005 when Suarez, Sterling and Coutinho trickled out of the door.
This time is different. Sadio Mane is leaving behind a club that has grown accustomed to success, not one striving towards it, after agreeing to join Bayern Munich. Suarez had a League Cup winner’s medal to show for his efforts and neither Sterling nor Coutinho won anything during their spells at Anfield; Mane has won the lot.
Liverpool have lost big stars in the past, but rarely when the team has been this good. And rarely when the player in question has contributed so much.
Mane scored 120 goals and provided 38 assists in 269 appearances in six years and ended his career in England by enjoying arguably his best-ever season.
Jamie Carragher has described Mane’s arrival from Southampton in 2016 as “the catalyst” for Liverpool’s subsequent achievements, given he pre-dated the arrivals of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson.
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“I’m surprised to be honest. Mane’s my favourite player so I’m disappointed to see him leave,” ex-Liverpool winger Stewart Downing tells i. “He’s everything that Klopp likes in a player: his attitude, he’s a proper team player, works hard, scores goals and is an all round top player.”
The benefit that Liverpool have now compared to when Suarez, Sterling and to a lesser extent Coutinho were sold is that they can rebuild from a position of strength. Liverpool botched their attempts to rebuild after selling Suarez and Sterling with Mario Balotelli, Lazar Markovic, Rickie Lambert and Christian Benteke all failing to meet expectations.
In the Klopp era, Liverpool’s success rate in the transfer market has improved considerably. Luis Diaz slotted into the team in Mane’s customary role on the left wing with remarkable ease upon joining from Porto in January, while the highly-regarded Darwin Nunez has joined for a club-record £85m fee from Benfica. They are far better prepared now than they once were.
With Mo Salah, also entering the final 12 months of his contract, expected to stay for the upcoming campaign and Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino also available, Klopp has an elite strikeforce to pick from. That quintet scored a combined 119 club goals in 2021-22.
Servus, Sadio! ????
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) June 22, 2022#ServusMané #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/RiZxFm2aYl
Klopp has also proven to be a master at revamping teams that have lost a player integral to their success and structure. In 2011 while at Borussia Dortmund, Klopp signed Ilkay Gundogan to replace Nuri Sahin and won the Bundesliga; the following year he bought Marco Reus after Shinji Kagawa joined Manchester United and reached a Champions League final. At Liverpool, the funds raised from Coutinho’s sale were not re-invested in midfield but instead diverted to the defence to pay for Van Dijk and Alisson.
“Losing big players is always disappointing but over the years Liverpool have done that and they went from strength to strength from then,” Downing says. “Klopp’s recruitment has been unbelievable. People were saying they paid a lot of money for Salah at the time but looking at it now it was a snip. Mane was the same, Jota has come in and done an exceptional job. So you can’t really question him.”
By signing Diaz ahead of schedule in January, Liverpool successfully sourced Mane’s successor six months before he had even left and that deal is indicative of both the club’s efficiency and clarity in the transfer market – traits that will be tested in the post-Michael Edwards era.
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But in numerical terms, Nunez will fill the spot that Mane has left with Klopp adopting a one-in, one-out philosophy at Melwood. Considering his relative lack of experience and his profile as a penalty box striker rather than a link man, Nunez arguably represents the biggest transfer gamble that Klopp has made to date. Liverpool will have to adapt and evolve in order to maximise his talents, therefore deviating from a strategy that has served them so well.
Downing is confident he will be a success, though, and believes that Nunez will add a different dimension to the side. “This lad looks more like a target man, a No 9 if you like. The way that Liverpool play they get plenty of balls into the box, lots of crosses, and from the clips and highlights I’ve seen of him he looks like he’d thrive on that service.”
Considering Liverpool finished just a point behind City in the Premier League and lost the Champions League final by a single goal, maybe he can be the difference-maker. Just as Mane was back in 2016.
Former Liverpool midfielder Stewart Downing was speaking ahead of the 360 Sports TV Masters Cup, taking place on 8 July, available to stream on 360 Sports TV
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