Ex-Manchester City forward Trevor Sinclair has opined that Sadio Mane ditched Liverpool for Bayern Munich because he was not appreciated at Anfield.
The Senegal international left the Reds after the end of the 2021/22 season and was recently unveiled by the Bundesliga champions.
In the aforementioned campaign, the 30-year-old played a vital role as Jurgen Klopp's team won the FA and League Cups, finished second in the Premier League and reached the final of the Uefa Champions League.
Sinclair believes Mane made a good decision to leave the English side for the Bavarians.
"This Sadio Mane transfer is obviously universally accepted now he’s left Liverpool Football Club as a club legend," Sinclair told talkSPORT.
"But I keep on hearing some fans and ex-players saying 'I don’t know why he has left?' Let me tell you why he left.
"One, I don’t think he’s ever been lauded and appreciated at the football club like Virgil van Dijk or Mo [Mohamed] Salah.
"Two, the fact that Liverpool let his contract go down to the last year kind of suggests that that’s how they felt about him."
Sinclair has further suggested Klopp lost the player when he belittled the Africa Cup of Nations before later on stating he was misinterpreted. Mane went on to play a crucial role in helping the Lions of Teranga win it for the first time in their history.
"I think the main thing is that Klopp lost him when he came out and belittled the Afcon tournament which his manager [for Senegal] Aliou Cisse had to come out and defend the Afcon and said ‘you were coming second until our African players started playing for you,'" Sinclair added.
"Mane is a man of principles, you've seen him buy hospitals, buy schools and all the rest of it in his hometown of Senegal and it’s for these reasons I feel Sadio Mane's thought, you know what, I’m going, I’m leaving the club.
"He's had a good time, he’s been a club legend but I don’t think he could play on after that."
Mane will now play for Bayern Munich until 2025.
