Liverpool have returned to the sort of form this season that has seen them challenge for trophies over the previous few years as Jurgen Klopp has revitalised his side.
Having failed to win a trophy during the 2022/23 season while finishing fifth in the Premier League, the German had a lot on his mind heading into the summer transfer window, a summer rebuild was clearly one of his thoughts.
Out went the likes of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and James Milner, while new arrivals included young talent such as Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, and Alexis Mac Allister, while Waturo Endo added some experience in the heart of the midfield.
Klopp had worked wonders over the summer with his transformation of their midfield options and the Reds have lost just once all season, a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last month in the Premier League.
The return to form of some of their big hitters has also been key. Luis Diaz struggled with injury problems last term yet has scored three times and grabbed an assist across ten matches in all competitions so far this season.
Mohamed Salah is another player who is continuing to impress for the Anfield side and his influence in the squad could well thrust them back into the limelight as they chase more success under the German.
How has Mohammed Salah performed this season?
The winger has already scored six goals and registered four assists across just ten matches, and it is evident that he is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, despite turning 31 in June.
His performances in the Premier League have been a joy to behold, and he is currently one of Liverpool’s better players over a range of metrics.
Indeed, the Egyptian ranks first across the squad for goals and assists (nine), along with ranking first for shots on target per game (1.5), big chances created (nine) and second for key passes per game (2.1), clearly indicating just how impressive he has been in the final third this season.
Salah is imperative to any success the Anfield side wish to have this term and at the time of writing (19/10/2023) he has currently scored 192 goals in 315 matches for the club and there is a chance that he will hit the 200 mark before the turn of the year.
However, Klopp’s side might have been be doing better had they not sold Sadio Mane back in 2022, as the winger is now currently scoring just as often as Salah this term and could still have been a useful player for the Reds.
How much did Liverpool sell Sadio Mane for?
Following the 2021/22 season, in which the Reds came just two matches from sealing an unlikely quadruple, the Senegal international stated his intentions to leave the Merseyside outfit, bowing out having won the FA Cup and League Cup.
Since joining from Southampton in the summer of 2016 ahead of Klopp’s first full season, Mane had netted 120 goals and registered 48 assists across 269 matches while winning everything there had to be won in the process, including the Champions League and Premier League.
He was even hailed by Klopp following a tie against Aston Villa towards the end of his final season, with the German saying: “He’s a machine, I told him after the game. A massive player, massive player. The physicality he has is brutal. The mix of technique, desire and then physicality.
“Now [even] in the moment when everybody obviously has a few yards in the legs, like you can see it with him to be honest, [he can do this]. Top goal. Just a fantastic, world-class player.”
All good things must come to an end however and after six productive seasons at Anfield, Mane left the club to join Bayern Munich in a deal worth around £35m in 2022.
His spell in Germany failed to live up to expectations, however, and perhaps he might have been better staying at the Reds instead of opting for a new challenge elsewhere.
What happened to Sadio Mane?
Overall, he featured 38 times for the Bundesliga giants, yet he managed to score just 12 goals for them during his maiden campaign, representing a drop-off from the 23 goals he netted during his final season under Klopp.
Perhaps the pressure at Bayern was simply too much and while he won the league title, it looked clear that he was not going to be a long term option for Thomas Tuchel, who took over from Julian Nagelsmann in March following his sacking.
This led Mane to look for another club, just one year into his Bayern contract, and he ended up joining Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr for a fee believed to be €40m (£35m), meaning the German side ended up recouping the fee they shelled out just over a year prior.
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Mane has certainly put his disappointment from 2022/23 behind him as he has managed to score six goals across just nine Saudi Pro League matches, while adding in another effort in the King’s Cup and it looks like he is returning to some sort of form.
These seven goals actually meant he has outscored Salah this season so far and suggests he still could have been an extra attacking option which Klopp may have utilised.
He has scored seven times in 12 matches in all competitions (once every 1.7 outings) in comparison to the Egypt international's aforementioned six in ten (once every 1.7 games), which shows that they are both scoring at the same rate this term.
Across the squad, Mane ranks only second to Cristiano Ronaldo for goals and assists (eight) in the league, while also ranking second for key passes per game (2.3) and first for successful dribbles per game (2.9), demonstrating a clear return to his vibrant best in Asia.
Klopp and Mane have both clearly moved on, yet the two enjoyed some excellent times as part of the Liverpool side and the Senegal international's attacking abilities have been on full show during the current campaign.
With the Anfield side still mainly relying on Salah for goals, they could have added a few more had they managed to convince Mane that Liverpool was the perfect place to continue his career.
His return to form signifies that last season was just a blimp, yet the gem would still be able to offer something different to the current Liverpool attacking lineup if they had kept him on Merseyside.
