Liverpool star says he was “gutted” to see Sadio Mane miss out on 2022 World Cup

Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold makes ‘gutted’ Sadio Mane admission

Former Liverpool winger Sadio Mane who left the club for Bayern Munich earlier this season could not recover in time from a fibula injury for the World Cup in Qatar. Due to that, his country Senegal had to travel for the tournament without one of their best players.

Many of his ex-team-mates including Virgil van Dijk have expressed their distress at the fact that Mane will not be a part of the World Cup. The former Southampton winger was in fine form in the weeks leading to the event, scoring 11 goals and getting four assists across all competitions this season in 23

Now, Trent Alexander-Arnold spoke about him feeling gutted for Mane, with whom he’s shared so many moments on the field. Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT via Liverpool Echo, Trent spoke about Sadio.

The pair shared the pitch from 2016 to 2022, when Mane moved on to Bayern. In those six seasons, the duo have contributed a lot to Liverpool’s success as a team. Here is what Trent said about Mane missing the World Cup via ECHO

“He’s one of if not the best left winger in the world in my opinion, and someone who can win games. I’ve seen it on multiple occasions and I’ve been part of a team that has benefitted from it.

“I was absolutely gutted that he had to miss out on this tournament, and he’s someone who I have got a really good relationship with.”

Such is their partnership that a whipped ball from the right flank to the box seeing a neat finish by Mane is almost a clichéd Liverpool goal. Alexander-Arnold has nine assists for Mane, four assists more than any other player he has linked up with. The Athletic‘s piece on their partnership confirms this statistic.

Mane & Trent

England play Senegal in their RO16 fixture in the World Cup, and three games into the tournament, Trent has only accumulated only 33 minutes of game-time, that too in a dead rubber game against Wales, which ended in a 3-0 win for Gareth Southgate’s men.

With a lot of right-backs at his disposal, Southgate seems to trust the other lot more than he trusts Trent, hence the Scouser’s involvement in the World Cup has been minimal. One could only hope for him to have more involvement in England’s games come the knockout games.

As far as Senegal are concerned, they seem to be doing as fine as ever without one of their talismans in Mane. Other confirmed Liverpool representatives in the knockouts include Trent, Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Alisson Becker and Fabinho.

More Liverpool News:

• Matthew Upson slams Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez for Uruguay performance against Portugal
• Liverpool have rejected the chance to sign Brighton & Hove Albion forward Leandro Trossard
• Former Liverpool defender Jose Enrique believes England manager Gareth Southgate does not trust Trent Alexander-Arnold

Darwin Nunez will also progress through to the knockouts if Uruguay beat Ghana in their final group-stage fixture. If he goes through, all of the Reds players who are involved in the World Cup will progress through to the next stage of the event.