Never go back! Liverpool should steer well clear of Sadio Mane transfer if Bayern Munich sell flop this summer

Having arrived amid much fanfare, it is fair to say that Mane’s debut season at Bayern has gone far from smoothly.

It started OK, with five goals in his first six appearances suggesting he could at least help plug the gap left by Robert Lewandowski’s departure, but as early as September there were signs of trouble ahead. He was criticised after a poor performance in a Champions League group match against Lewandowski’s Barcelona, with coach Julian Nagelsmann admitting he needed more from the forward, suggesting Mane needed to add some “positive arrogance” to his game.

Mane had netted 11 goals by the end of October, but in the 6-1 win over Werder Bremen on November 8, he suffered an injury that would rule him out of Senegal’s World Cup campaign, and which would keep him sidelined for almost three months in total.

He returned towards the end of February, but has not scored in 10 appearances since. He was reported to have rowed with Nagelsmann after the Champions League last-16 win over Paris Saint-Germain in March, and then clashed in the dressing room with Sane following the quarter-final first-leg defeat at Manchester City earlier this month.

That led to a one-game suspension from the club, as well as a hefty fine. Sky Germany have since reported that Bayern will “try everything” to offload Mane at the end of the season, with Nagelsmann’s replacement, Thomas Tuchel, planning a system without the former Salzburg and Southampton man.

So what chance of a return to Liverpool, then? There will be plenty of Reds fans keen on the idea. Mane, after all, achieved so much during his time on Merseyside, scoring 120 goals in 269 appearances and winning every major club honour possible. Few players had more influence on the club’s success under Klopp than he did.

But Liverpool’s priorities this summer lie elsewhere. Their midfield is in need of a serious (and expensive) overhaul, and they could well be in the market for a centre-back and a back-up goalkeeper too, if certain departures are given the green light.

They expect to spend good money, with the likes of Mason Mount, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo all on their list of potential targets. 

What they aren’t planning on doing, at this stage at least, is recruiting another first-team forward, especially one the wrong side of 30, who favours the left of the attack and who would command the kind of wages and playing-time expectation as Mane. It might make sense in terms of narrative, but not logistically.

In contrast to their midfield, which has been allowed to grow old and more than a little stale, Liverpool have been proactive in reshaping their attack in recent years.

Diogo Jota’s arrival in 2020 turned an established three (Mane, Mohamed Salah & Roberto Firmino) into a fab four, while the signing of Luis Diaz at the end of January 2022 was done to offset the departure of Mane, which came a few months later, just after Darwin Nunez had been brought to the club.

Likewise, buying Cody Gakpo this January should enable the Reds to cover for the exit of Firmino, who is leaving on a free transfer at the end of the season.

It means Klopp will have five high-class attackers at his disposal, four of them aged 26 or under and all of them capable of playing in multiple positions across the forward line. Add to that younger talents such as Harvey Elliott, Fabio Carvalho and Ben Doak, and it is hard to see Liverpool entering the market for another frontman this summer.

Perhaps as pertinent a question is whether Mane would even want to return to Liverpool, and whether Klopp would want to welcome him back.

The pair clearly have a lot of mutual respect for one another - how could they not, having shared such wonderful times together? - but their relationship was far from perfect, particularly in Mane’s final season with the club, when it became apparent that he was looking to move on. 

Stories that Mane felt undervalued at Liverpool may have been a little overplayed, but did contain an element of truth. Had the Reds offered him a contract comparable with that given to Salah last summer, for example, then the feeling is he would have signed it in a flash.

Mane has spoken well of Klopp since leaving, and retains good friendships with just about all of the current squad. When it became clear he would miss the World Cup, some of the first messages he received were from the likes of Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk and Salah. Plenty within Liverpool - Andy Robertson, for starters - would welcome him back with open arms.

The fans, too, would certainly be open to Mane coming back. They remember the good times, the debut goal at Arsenal, the last-gasp winner at Everton, the Champions League magic and the Premier League brilliance. 

There is no doubt that Liverpool have missed him this season. They have missed his fearlessness, that power and speed, the panic he instils in defenders. It is not a coincidence that Robertson, without that telepathic relationship down the left, has seen his attacking output dip, nor that Liverpool’s pressing game has looked so disjointed.

Mane did more than just score goals for Klopp. He worked tirelessly, he held the ball up, he won aerial battles and kept terrified full-backs in their own half. He switched effortlessly between attacking positions, always dangerous, and he showed up consistently, whether against the big teams or the lesser ones. 

He might not have shown it in Munich - not yet, anyway - but he’s a genuinely world-class performer, one who will always have a place in Liverpudlian hearts. 

But while there's no question he could prove useful again in the short-term, the fact is some things are best left where they are. As with Philippe Coutinho, who found the grass wasn't greener after leaving Anfield, the team is moving on without Mane. It might not have been an easy process this season, but Klopp hopes that by the end of this summer, the pieces are in place for another great Reds team to emerge.

One with a new set of attacking heroes for fans to worship.

So where will he be playing his football next season, then?

There is no doubt that the ears of plenty of European clubs will have been pricked by news of Bayern’s desire/intention to sell in the summer. Recent headlines may reflect poorly on Mane, but there are two sides to every story, and in six years at Liverpool there was nothing to suggest he was anything like a troublemaker or a bad influence in the dressing room.

And in any case, clubs have taken far more gambles on far less gifted players down the years. Mane’s talent is hard to ignore, even if it is hard to see Bayern selling for anything less than they paid Liverpool (and probably more) and even if his salary would, for a player of his age, be a substantial one to take on.

Clubs like Paris Saint-Germain, though, would kill for a winner like him, as would the likes of Juventus or Inter Milan. Would any of the Premier League’s top clubs find a place for him? It is hard to see him at either of the Manchester clubs, while both Chelsea and Arsenal are likely to pursue younger signings.

Maybe he could stay in the Bundesliga? Would an RB Leipzig or a Borussia Dortmund appeal? Diego Simeone would love his aggression and goals at Atletico Madrid, one imagines, while Barcelona have previously been admirers. The Catalans, though, have another attacker on their mind this summer, one who wears the No.10 and has a World Cup winners’ medal round his neck.

Staying at Bayern should not be ruled out, of course. Tuchel has spoken, publicly at least, glowingly about Mane, and the Bavarians are hardly overflowing with top-class attackers at present. Erik-Maxim Choupo-Moting, after all, led the line for them in a Champions League quarter-final this week.

Wherever he ends up, though, you should expect Mane to put the drama and the disappointment of this season firmly behind him. A lucky club is going to get themselves a hell of a player.

It just won’t be Liverpool, and nor should it be.