Liverpool’s most expensive signings have not gone particularly well to date.
Liverpool are closing in on the signing of Sadio Mane from Southampton, with the Senegal international on Merseyside for a medical today according to a report in the Liverpool Echo.
They report that the fee for Mane will be around £30 million, meaning he is among the more expensive players ever to be signed by the club.
The other two players that signed for the club for that fee or more have been Andy Carroll and Christian Benteke…and neither have them have been a success.
There is a feeling that the fee Liverpool are going to be pay is on the steep side and looking at the careers Carroll and Benteke had at Liverpool – with Benteke’s future seemingly up in the air for now – their price tag has always been a massive issue for fans. If you pay big money, you need big performances on a consistent basis.
Roberto Firmino signed for £29 million last summer, but the talk around his fee quietened somewhat after his performances in the second half of the season saw him find the net 10 times in 2016 alone.
Mane would like to be in a position come the end of his first season at Liverpool where his price tag is not an issue. Liverpool seem to have identified that they needed a quick player who can contribute goals but is not someone who plays as a recognised striker and Mane seems to fit that particular description.
As a 24-year-old, his best years are ahead of him, and if he manages to contribute a goal tally in double figures next season, while becoming more consistent in his performances, he will become a fine player for the club.
But after two big flops in the past, and questions about whether Liverpool are overpaying for him now, one feels that he needs to be a quick success for faith to be restored in the club’s transfer policy again.
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