This is about as bad a take on Sadio Mane as we’ve ever heard, so strap yourselves in, Reds!
Former Premier League striker Diomansy Kamara, who competed for West Brom, Fulham and Portsmouth among others, reckons our no.10 needs to depart Anfield for Real Madrid because – wait for it – we don’t play to his strengths and he’ll have a better chance of winning the Ballon d’Or at Real Madrid. Gulp.
The absurd comments come after Mane said he’d try desperately to win the Ballon d’Or over the next few years – but it seems Kamara has got the wrong end of the stick.
“If Mane, one day wants to win the Ballon d’Or, he may have to leave Liverpool as the club are maybe not the best advocates for him, despite their outstanding performances,” Kamara told ESPN.
“He needs to continue on the road he’s going down, as he wasn’t too far from finishing on the podium, and even for me he maybe deserved to win it this year.
“Now he needs to continue to work, and maybe even change clubs, because we’ve seen that Liverpool don’t really play to Mane’s strengths and [people] gave their votes to Virgil van Dijk even though Mane and to a lesser extend Mohamed Salah were equally in the running.”
Right now, Liverpool are a far superior team to Real Madrid and have Jurgen Klopp, the world’s best manager, in charge.
Klopp has helped turn Mane from a player who didn’t always start for Southampton into maybe the best left-winger on the planet – so we highly doubt the 28-year-old will be seeking an exit.
What’s more, he has a very long contract and there is no way Liverpool would consider selling unless it’s for an absurdly high fee – something no club will be able to spend on a player of Mane’s age – especially considering the financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.