Why did Sadio Mane leave Liverpool?
That’s the question a lot of Liverpool supporters have been asking themselves recently.
The Senegal international quit the Reds after six years at Anfield in favour of joining Bayern Munich.
It was relatively out of the blue when, after the Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid last month, Mane told FSG that he wanted to leave Anfield in a development which stunned the club’s owners.
According to Trevor Sinclair, there were a number of reasons why the former Southampton attacker walked away.
But the talkSPORT pundit believes that ‘belitting’ comments made by Jurgen Klopp about the Africa Cup of Nations last year played a prominent role in Mane’s decision to quit Liverpool.
Sinclair said: “I keep on hearing some fans and ex-players saying ‘I don’t know why he’s left?’ Let me tell you why he’s left. One, I don’t think he’s ever been lauded and appreciated at the football club like Virgil van Dijk or Mo Salah. Two, the fact that Liverpool let his contract go down to the last year kind of suggests that that’s how they felt about him.
“Three, I think the main thing is that Jurgen Klopp lost him when he came out and belittled the AFCON tournament.”
Last November, the Liverpool boss labelled AFCON as a ‘little tournament‘ in comments which caused controversy at the time due to perceived disrespect, though the German manager clarified his words afterwards.
In any case, the only person who knows why Mane left Merseyside is the player himself and although Sinclair’s theory may have some merit, it isn’t concrete.
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