Luis Diaz says that Sadio Mane’s departure was disheartening for Liverpool

Speaking to TNT Sports Brasil (h/t The Mirror), Luis Diaz said that the Liverpool squad was sad to know that Sadio Mane would be departing the club at the end of the season. Even though the pair was together for only six months at the club, Diaz and Mane created a solid partnership upfront in their brief time together, with the Senegalese attacking through the middle.

Sadio was at Liverpool for six seasons and won virtually every possible top-flight club trophy. It is as clear as daylight that the Reds would find it hard to transition onto other players from Mane, who was a mainstay in the club and scored clutch goals for the club.

Following Mane’s departure to Bayern Munich for a fee of £35m, Liverpool signed Darwin Nunez from SL Benfica for a potential club-record transfer fee of £85m to try and bridge the gap that the Senegalese left behind. Both players have not gone off to the best of starts in their respective leagues.

In view of this, Diaz said in his interview that the team was “gutted” to know that Sadio would move on from Liverpool for a new challenge.

“The team was gutted. Obviously he’s a player that will be missed in any club. He’s gone to a big club and is working to achieve his goals. And we’re conscious of the big group we have here, we’re working hard every day to improve. Everybody’s here to help and that shows in games.”

Mane asked to leave in 2021

Speaking to BBC Sport in July earlier this year, Mane admitted that he told Jurgen Klopp of his desire to depart from the club in search of new challenges back last year. With that said, Diaz’s early recruitment makes sense. Liverpool were inquisitive about the Colombian and ideally wanted him to join the Reds in the summer of 2022.

However, league rivals Tottenham Hotspur’s accelerated interests in January 2022 meant that Liverpool needed to act quickly to get Diaz on board. Signing Diaz six months earlier helped the Reds in the transitional phase as well. Hence, it could be a well-thought-out plan to recruit Diaz ahead of time, so that he could replace Mane.

However, it has been a tough season so far for the Reds without Super Sadio. The Reds have struggled in the league and are in the ninth position after seven games. The coming weeks will be extremely crucial for the Reds in their pursuit of a top-two finish.

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• Paul Merson rips into Liverpool for selling Sadio Mane

Mane, on the other hand, has also gone on to a mixed start to life in Bayern Munich colours. Hopefully, he gets up and running soon with the Bavarians and closeby in Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp’s men start charging for the title.