Fabrizio Romano made a point of disagreeing with some commentators’ thoughts on Sadio Mane’s exit from Liverpool in his latest Daily Briefing.
The Guardian reporter noted that he felt the Reds hadn’t made a mistake in the summer window in letting the hugely popular forward swap Anfield for the Allianz Arena.
“If you ask me, I don’t think selling Mane was a mistake, because when a player wants to leave, there is no point in keeping him at the club,” the Italian journalist wrote on his Caught Offside Daily Briefing on Substack.
“Mane asked repeatedly and with conviction to try a new experience, so Liverpool in my opinion have done well to accept and it will take time to start a new era without a star like Sadio.
“Changing his mind was impossible, after the final in Paris, Mane was clear with the club: he only wanted to join Bayern Munich.”
It’s a point that contravenes talkSPORT commentator Simon Jordan’s concerns on the matter, with the former Crystal Palace owner previously suggesting the Merseysiders should part ways with Bobby Firmino over their former No.10.
“If they’re going to let anyone go, I know Firmino’s an integral part of the way Liverpool play at times because he’s such a clever creative player, but if I’m going to let one of them go it would probably be Firmino because of the age and to some extent the number of games he plays,” the 54-year-old told talkSPORT (via the Daily Express). “You’ve got the new kid in, Diaz, so with that in mind I really wouldn’t want to be losing Mane.”
The cold reality remains that all good things must come to an end – including, sadly, Mane’s glory-ridden years with us, which included winning every honour available domestically and beyond.
Fingers will continue to point at the winger-turned-striker’s glaring absence in a Liverpool side struggling for goals and to impose themselves early on in a game but it would be foolish to highlight our ex-No.10’s exit as the sole, or even defining, reason behind our difficulties this season.
Injuries, without a doubt, have hurt us significantly and it’s also worth considering the adaptation period for Darwin Nunez in a forward line that has yet to gel together completely.
#Ep58 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Rating Liverpool’s UCL group, making a new signing… & more!