It didn’t take Liverpool fans long to fall in love with Sadio Mane, and so it may take a little while for them to get over his departure.
The Senegalese thrilled supporters and terrorised defenders during six glorious, trophy-filled years on Merseyside. He leaves as a bona fide Anfield legend, ready for a new challenge in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.
At £35 million ($43m), he was viewed as something of a gamble when arriving from Southampton in the summer of 2016, but he would turn out to be Jurgen Klopp’s first great Reds signing, the catalyst for a magnificent era of success.
He leaves behind countless memories, his legacy as one of the great Liverpool players of the modern era secure and ready to be passed down the generations.
Gamble? Bargain, more like!
GettyDebut delight
Perhaps the best goal Mane ever scored for Liverpool came on his Premier League debut for the club, away at Arsenal.
Chasing a hopeful ball into the right-hand channel, he was too quick and too agile for Nacho Monreal and Calum Chambers, jinking between the two defenders and into the penalty area, where he unleashed a ferocious left-footed strike into the top right-hand corner of Petr Cech’s net.
Jurgen Klopp’s reaction said it all, the manager almost ordering Mane to jump on his back on the sideline. Liverpool won 4-3, and talk of Mane’s transfer fee was wiped out in an instant.
AdvertisementGettyDerby-day fireworks
Mane’s first Merseyside derby saw him grab a 94th-minute winner at Goodison Park in December 2016.
It was a simple enough goal, reacting quickest to tap home after Daniel Sturridge’s shot had come back off the post, but it produced some iconic photographs as the Senegal star and his team-mates celebrated in front of an ecstatic away end, red smoke filling the winter air.
Mane’s record in derbies was good. He scored four times and lost only once in 13 appearances against the Toffees, but it is that first encounter which Liverpool fans sing about every time the festive period rolls around.
‘Merry Christmas, Everton.’
GettySpurs shot down
Mane’s first season at Liverpool ended prematurely due to injury, and was disrupted by the Africa Cup of Nations.
And yet he still finished it as the Reds’ Player of the Year, his performances having helped power Klopp’s side to Champions League qualification.
One of his most important came against Tottenham in February 2017. Liverpool had stuttered while he was at AFCON, failing to win any of their previous five league games and exiting both the FA Cup and League Cup for good measure.
But against their top-four rivals – Spurs were second at the time – Mane ensured they got back on track. He scored both goals in the Reds’ 2-0 win, the pair of them arriving in the space of 138 seconds in the first half.
GettyStunning the Allianz
Mane has already made his mark in Munich, and at the Allianz Arena.
When Liverpool rocked up there for the second leg of a Champions League last-16 tie in March 2019, they were under pressure. Bayern Munich had dug out a goalless draw at Anfield and were fancied to finish the job on home soil.
But 26 minutes in, Virgil van Dijk sent a ball over the top and Mane did the rest. His first touch was sublime, his second sent Manuel Neuer for a half-time pie, and his third was clipped sublimely into the far corner, splitting two covering defenders perfectly.
Liverpool went on to win 3-1, Mane finishing the scoring with a close-range header. On they went, all the way to Madrid, where they would beat Tottenham to win their sixth European Cup.