Paul Merson believes that Liverpool have been missing Sadio Mane this season and if given the chance he thinks they would re-sign the forward.
Mane spent six seasons at Anfield and scored 120 goals across 269 appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Liverpool have invested in their forward line with the signings of Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo, but they have struggled to maintain their previous goalscoring ratio.
The dip in form which Mohamed Salah has experienced will have certainly impacted things, but the loss of Mane is also worth considering.
Merson thinks that Liverpool made a mistake by letting him leave in the summer as he moved on to Bayern Munich.
“I’ve been saying it from the start – selling Sadio Mane was a bad decision,” Merson told Sportskeeda.
“If he came up for sale again, they’d buy him back in an instant. He was a massive part of that team and he didn’t get the credit he deserved.
“Liverpool sold one of their best players for hardly any money and it’s coming back to bite them.”
Mane scored a total of 23 goals during his final season with Liverpool, with 16 of those coming in the Premier League.
“They played a lot of high-pressure games last season, and it’s caught up with them,” Merson added. “They’re paying the toll with injuries and a lack of form, and they’re in a bad space at the moment.”
At the same stage of last season, Liverpool were 12 points better off than they are this time around. They had also scored 16 more goals and kept things much tighter at the back.
Nunez is one player Liverpool will be hoping can provide the goals in the second half of the season.
The striker recently opened up on his tough start to life in the Premier League with an interview with Sky Sports.
The forward explained: “I think he [Klopp] wants to see what he saw in Benfica, for example in the games I played against Liverpool [in the Champions League last season], when I performed very well.
“I don’t think I’m playing well at the moment, but I always want to improve. I try to improve every day.
“Klopp knows my strength is my speed, running into space. Also, he tells me that I need to be more calm when I’m playing, and that I need to move more.
“He tells me that I need that, and that I am a player with a lot of quality. So, that’s more or less what he wants from me – and, of course, that I score goals.”
The dip in form which Mohamed Salah has experienced will have certainly impacted things, but the loss of Mane is also worth considering.
Merson thinks that Liverpool made a mistake by letting him leave in the summer as he moved on to Bayern Munich.
“I’ve been saying it from the start – selling Sadio Mane was a bad decision,” Merson told Sportskeeda.
“If he came up for sale again, they’d buy him back in an instant. He was a massive part of that team and he didn’t get the credit he deserved.
“Liverpool sold one of their best players for hardly any money and it’s coming back to bite them.”
Mane scored a total of 23 goals during his final season with Liverpool, with 16 of those coming in the Premier League.
“They played a lot of high-pressure games last season, and it’s caught up with them,” Merson added. “They’re paying the toll with injuries and a lack of form, and they’re in a bad space at the moment.”
At the same stage of last season, Liverpool were 12 points better off than they are this time around. They had also scored 16 more goals and kept things much tighter at the back.
Nunez is one player Liverpool will be hoping can provide the goals in the second half of the season.
The striker recently opened up on his tough start to life in the Premier League with an interview with Sky Sports.
The forward explained: “I think he [Klopp] wants to see what he saw in Benfica, for example in the games I played against Liverpool [in the Champions League last season], when I performed very well.
“I don’t think I’m playing well at the moment, but I always want to improve. I try to improve every day.
“Klopp knows my strength is my speed, running into space. Also, he tells me that I need to be more calm when I’m playing, and that I need to move more.
“He tells me that I need that, and that I am a player with a lot of quality. So, that’s more or less what he wants from me – and, of course, that I score goals.”
