Liverpool told they should have sold Roberto Firmino instead of Sadio Mane

Ferdinand believes Liverpool should have kept Sadio Mane and let go of Roberto Firmino

Speaking on his YouTube channel (h/t Liverpool Echo), former Manchester United defender and TV pundit Rio Ferdinand believes that Liverpool should have kept hold of Sadio Mane and let go of Roberto Firmino instead.

Firmino has his contract expiring in the coming summer (Transfermarkt), while the club sold Mane (who had a similar contract length to the Brazilian) to German champions Bayern Munich last summer for £35m.

Many people, now including Ferdinand, believe that Liverpool’s demise this season has coincided with the departure of the Senegalese superstar.

Here’s what he said (h/t Liverpool Echo):

“Why didn’t they just pay him [Mane] the money to stay?

“I think they let the wrong one go, they should’ve let Firmino go, I just don’t understand how you let someone who is world-class at that moment in time, ideally who would’ve liked to have stayed if you gave the contract he was looking for or something similar to what Salah got.”

As much as the quote would make sense and the current situation of the team is not helping matters, it is kind of one-dimensional to think that Mane’s departure has caused all the disruption in the performance levels this season.

No doubt the former Southampton winger was a megastar for us, but he did not want to stay at Anfield beyond last summer and wanted a new challenge

. Moreover, he had an underwhelming 2020/21 season and was underperforming in the first half of last season as well.

Just because he had a decent last few months before his departure does not constitute that he is not declining as a player. Look what has happened since he moved to Bayern, a long-term injury that has kept him out of action since November.

A part of Ferdinand’s quote does make sense though. Firmino, as much as he had a decent first half of this season, has not been a reliable asset for the squad fitness-wise. He missed a lot of games due to injury last year and has been out of action since the resumption of this campaign.

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What the club should do is let him go for free in the summer and have Cody Gakpo or Darwin Nunez operating in the number nine position consistently.