Charlie Austin has said on Sky Sports Super 6 that he did not expect his former Southampton teammate Sadio Mane to be such a success at Liverpool.
Mane was on the books of Southampton from 2014 until 2016 when he moved to Premier League rivals Liverpool for a transfer fee reported by BBC Sport to be worth £34 million.
Austin, who is now on loan at Queens Park Rangers from West Bromwich Albion, played for Southampton from January 2016 until the summer 2019.
The English striker has praised Mane, but he has admitted that he did not expect the Senegal international forward to be such a huge success at Liverpool.
Austin said about Mane on Sky Sports Super 6: “No. He had the raw, ultimate pace and he was obviously technically very good, but he was like, where is his game going to go now? Is it going to go to the next level? Is it going to push on? And he has gone to Liverpool and he has achieved that, and he has gone on to so much more.”
World-class footballer
Mane has been superb for Liverpool over the years and is now a world-class attacking player.
The 28-year-old, who has won the Premier League title and the Champions League with the Reds, is at the top of his game at the moment.
According to WhoScored, Mane has scored seven goals and provided three assists in the Premier League so far this season, and scored 18 goals and gave seven assists in the league in 2019-20.
It is a testament to manager Jurgen Klopp’s coaching and system that Mane has developed into such a lethal force in front of goal.
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