Liverpool have successfully completed the £34m signing of Southampton midfielder Sadio Mane, which has the potential to rise up to £36m depending on his performances.
After the move, Mane becomes the 5th Southampton player to be transferred from the south coast to Merseyside after Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne and Rickie Lambert. Lovren, Lallana and Clyne are still playing in the squad, while Lambert moved on to West Brom after just one season.
The 24-year-old attacker is Liverpool’s fourth signing of the summer as he follows midfielder Marko Grujic, centre-back Joel Matip and goalkeeper Loris Karius and he would become Liverpool’s second most expensive signing, behind only Andy Carroll.
Sadio Mane was one of the best performers in the Premier League last season and was also a reported target of Manchester United, but the Merseysiders won the chase and Mane would be joining Liverpool after spending two years with Southampton, making 75 appearances, scoring 25 goals, 15 of which came last season.
The 24-year-old is arguably one of the most versatile players in the industry and can be deployed at various positions on the field. In Southampton, he was often used as an attacking midfielder or as a second striker, sometimes as a striker and sometimes as a winger. The transfer will surely benefit the club, but it will endanger the future prospect of one of the current team members and many believes that it would be the former Southampton man, Adam Lallana.
Lallana had a poor start to his Liverpool career, but after the arrival of Jurgen Klopp, he made improvements. The 28-year-old made 28 appearances for the side last season in the premier league and scored some handful of goals, while Mane played every single game in the Premier League but one, and score 11 goals.
Both made equal contribution for the team as both bagged six assists to their name. The 24-year-old Senegalese superstar is known for his incredible work rate and besides that, his movement on and off the ball usually troubles the opponents a lot.
On the other hand, Adam Lallana, 28, has been often criticized due to his lack of concentration in the games and the Englishman sometimes looks lost. He too possess a blistering pace, but his moves are predictable and due to that, he sometimes comes out as a failure. The plus point of Lallana over Mane is that the Englishman keeps his head cool in every situation, while Mane sometimes engage himself in the rash challenges.
But that attribute could be used in Klopp’s Gegenpressing style of play. The two necessary things in this tactic is Stamina and Technical ability. As mentioned earlier, Mane is a tireless worker and he could be the perfect man to complement Coutinho and Firmino in the attack. Mane loves to cover the field and that allows him to close down his opponents in their own half.
There is no doubt that Mane deserves a first team place, and it will be interesting to see how the German gaffer will use this Senegalese sensation.
