Speaking on the Footballer’s Football Podcast, Michail Antonio has been previewing the upcoming Premier League season, and he’s touched on Liverpool’s chances this term.
Antonio, as you can imagine, has predicted big things for the Reds this season, but he has shared one concern.
Indeed, the West Ham striker is worried about Liverpool’s decision to sell Sadio Mane, stating that the Senegal international was the Reds’ best player and that they didn’t need to sell him.
What’s been said?
Antonio spoke about Mane.
“I want to know how do you feel about losing Mane? In my eyes Mane was your best player, overall he was your best player, how do you feel about losing him?” Antonio asked his Liverpool supporting co-host.
“I don’t feel like they needed to sell him, I think that rivalry they had and that push that Mane was giving Salah and that Salah was giving to Mane, I think that was good for Liverpool. They had that rivalry on the pitch and demanded the best from each other. That rivalry they had and everything they had was good for Liverpool.”
Time to sell
Liverpool selling Mane wasn’t an ideal situation. After all, he was a star player and a club legend, but there is an argument to make that it was time to let him go.
The winger clearly wanted the move, and with one year left on his contract, this was the Reds’ last chance to receive a fee for Mane.
The Merseyside club, of course, needed to raise the necessary funds to go out and get Darwin Nunez, and now, the Uruguayan has arrived as a natural replacement for Mane.
Whether or not the Reds miss Mane remains to be seen, but that is certainly a relevant and understandable concern for Antonio to have.
From a business perspective, letting Mane go made the world of sense, but from a footballing perspective, it may prove to be a bit of a mistake.
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