Jamie Carragher has paid tribute to Sadio Mane ahead of his £ 35.1m transfer to Bayern Munich, naming the Senegal striker as his “favorite Liverpool player”.
Mane is due to undergo a medical consultation next week in Germany, after Liverpool and Bayern agreed on a deal worth £ 35.1 million on Friday.
The 30-year-old will leave Anfield after six years, signing a three-year deal with the Bundesliga champions, and will carry with him six medals from his time with the Reds.
He is widely regarded as the catalyst for Liverpool’s promotion under Jurgen Klopp, after being the first major signing of the coach and scoring 120 and attending 38 in 269 games with the club.
Only Roberto Firmino (261) has started more Klopp matches than Mane (248) and only Mohamed Salah (156) has scored more goals.
Since coming from Southampton in 2016, no Liverpool player has scored more minutes under Klopp than Mane (21,683, or 80.1 out of every 90 minutes), and it is this world-class consistency that has made him love Carragher. .
My favorite @LFC player of that era, Sadio Mane is finally leaving? low maintenance high performance and never hurt! Trophies and goals in abundance, a true Liverpool legend. Thanks Sadio ??
– Jamie Carragher (@ Carra23) June 17, 2022
Reacting to the news of the Senegalese’s imminent departure on Twitter, Carragher praised a legend of “low maintenance and high performance”.
“My favorite Liverpool player of that era, Sadio Mane, is finally leaving,” he wrote, accompanied by a crying emoji.
“Low maintenance, high performance and never injured! Trophies and goals in abundance.
“A real Liverpool legend. Thank you, Sadio.”
It was this low-maintenance personality that made Mane such a valuable player for Klopp, able to thrive in various positions while often sacrificing himself for the team.
Liverpool will no doubt miss this relentlessness and their ridiculous end product, with Mane averaging one goal every 181 minutes during his 269 games and one goal or assist every 129 minutes.
The hope will be that Darwin Núñez and Luis Díaz have already been replaced, but there is no doubt that, as Carragher testifies, Mane is leaving a true Liverpool legend.