Paul Merson rips into Liverpool for selling Sadio Mane
Writing in his Sky Sports column, former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson said that Liverpool’s sale of Sadio Mane was the ‘Worst Business Ever’. The Reds sold the Senegalese forward to Bayern Munich ahead of the 2022 season for £35m.
After six seasons at Merseyside, winning every possible top-flight club trophy, Mane moved to the Bavarian giants in search of a new challenge. Liverpool signed Darwin Nunez for a club-record transfer fee of £85m to fill the void Mane left.
With 120 goals and 48 assists in 269 games for Liverpool, Sadio left Anfield as a club legend. The decision of selling Mane at what could be his prime is a subjective opinion, but former Merson believes selling him was the “worst” piece of business by the Reds.
Liverpool have not had the best of times transitioning from Mane to Darwin Nunez. The Uruguayan striker has not gotten into his groove yet and is still adapting to life in the Premier League. Moreover, with Roberto Firmino in sublime form, Nunez has a fight on his hands for a starting spot.
Lacklustre Liverpool without Super Sadio
Merson’s concern for Liverpool comes right here. He adds that given Nunez is struggling to find his feet, selling someone like Mane who came in clutch for Liverpool in tough moments is not the smartest piece of business.
“I’ve said it from day one, in my opinion, selling Sadio Mane was the worst business ever. The bloke scores big, big goals. Go through them, first goals, equalisers, winning goals in last minutes, big goals.”
“He led from the front with his closing down, and for me, what they sold him for, I just didn’t get it. Darwin Nunez isn’t in the same league at the moment. Not in the same league at all.”
The pundit also made a tactical assessment of the club as well. He added that the front three of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Mane pressed the opponents a lot, which led them to score the number of goals they did. Additionally, the Reds have struggled without Mane.
Liverpool has won only two of their seven league games this season and have looked off-colour without Super Sadio. With Darwin also taking his own time to adjust to the league, the transitional phase for the Reds will be a tough ride.
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While selling Mane has hurt us, to call it a poor piece of business is nothing short of ignorance. The Senegalese was certainly on the wane and was also seeking a new challenge. Keeping him on despite the desire to move on would have been a poor way to repay his distinguished service to the club.
You would assume a football pundit would know the circumstances, especially since it has come from the horse’s mouth itself. But then Merson clearly is keen to sensationalise his views than scour for facts.
