Liverpool have confirmed big positive from Sadio Mané transfer

Liverpool have lost a great player in Sadio Mané, but the transfer only served to confirm that the rest of the squad is right where Jürgen Klopp wants them.

It’s easy to assume that Liverpool planned to sell Sadio Mané this summer all along. Luis Díaz was signed in January to freshen up the left wing, and there was no attempt to discuss a contract renewal. But Jürgen Klopp is not typically in the business of losing his best players: the club insists that talks were planned for the summer, only for the 30-year-old to push for a move.

Klopp relied heavily on Mané in the second half of last season, when he found an unlikely second wind through the middle. Liverpool have since signed Darwin Núñez to this position, but there is no doubt that the club servant of six years will be missed.

However, once Mané decided to move, the writing was on the wall. While Klopp may not like letting go of his best assets, he is equally reluctant to keep someone who does not want to be at the club. It was the manager, not just FSG, who greenlit Philippe Coutinho’s eventual departure.

The coach’s nature requires a squad full of players all pulling in the same direction. Particularly when trying to dethrone a financial behemoth in Manchester City, these intangibles come to the fore. A sense of unity and togetherness is a hallmark of any Klopp team.

And while Liverpool will miss Mané in a footballing sense, his departure has confirmed that the rest of the squad remain as committed to the project as ever. This can be seen in multiple ways.

For one thing, nobody else has asked for a move this summer. Even Joe Gomez, who would have been forgiven for doing so, has instead signed a contract extension, reaffirming Klopp’s squad management mastery.

Even more tangibly, Fabinho has revealed his attitude in a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic. It turns out that he tried hard to convince Mané to stay.

“I was always saying to him, ‘Come on Sadio, stay here. You can win the Premier League and the Champions League right here, don’t leave’.”