One of the heroes of Liverpool’s Champions League and Premier League-winning campaigns under Jurgen Klopp has been linked with a return to the club by reports in Europe.
According to Spanish outlet AS, Sadio Mane ‘could return’ to Anfield just one year after his departure for Bayern Munich, where he angered the hierarchy following an altercation with teammate Leroy Sane in April.
Bild have claimed (via Daily Mail) that the Bundesliga champions are happy to entertain offers for that duo, along with Serge Gnabry, and won’t hesitate to sell any of them if an acceptable bid comes their way.
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Mane left Liverpool 12 months ago with legendary status firmly assured, having scored 120 goals in 269 appearances for the club (Transfermarkt) and won several major trophies, playing a leading role in those triumphs.
Klopp sang the Senegal star’s praises following a match-winning contribution against Aston Villa in one of his final games for the club last May, saying (via Eurosport): “He’s a machine, I told him after the game. Massive player…Top goal, just fantastic, a world-class player.”
A return of 12 goals from 38 games in his first season at Bayern (Transfermarkt) is no disgrace, although the fracas with Sane appears to have tainted his status at the club to the point where they’d happily offload him.
As outstanding as Mane was for Liverpool, though, it mightn’t be the wisest idea to bring him back, given that he’s now 31 and likely past his prime, while also playing in a left-sided attacking role where the Reds are already well-stocked.
In any event, the transfer focus on Merseyside this summer is firmly on midfield recruitment, with one or two defenders and a backup goalkeeper also likely to be given more attention than adding to the forward line.
It’s happened before that attacking legends have returned for a second spell at Anfield (e.g. Robbie Fowler), but despite what AS have claimed, it’s difficult to realistically envisage the Senegalese attacker once again being part of Klopp’s squad next season.