Paul Merson has slammed Liverpool for the ‘bad decision’ they made in selling Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich in the summer and believes Jurgen Klopp would ‘buy him back in an instant’.
The Reds have struggled for consistency this season and are sat ninth in the Premier League table as well as already being dumped out of both FA and League cups.
The former Arsenal star believes that the sale of the Senegal international has affected the Merseysiders and the transfer is ‘coming back to bite them’.
“I’ve been saying it from the start – selling Sadio Mane was a bad decision,” Merson told Sportskeeda (via Rousing The Kop). “If he came up for sale again, they’d buy him back in an instant. He was a massive part of that team and he didn’t get the credit he deserved. Liverpool sold one of their best players for hardly any money and it’s coming back to bite them.”
Merson also looked ahead to Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Wolves at Molineux on Saturday.
Klopp’s men were 1-0 winners on the same ground just two weeks ago in the FA Cup, but the 54-year-old reckons the Reds are in for a tougher clash this time around; predicting a 1-1 draw.
“Liverpool defeated Wolves comfortably in the FA Cup, but they need to get going in the Premier League. They played a lot of high-pressure games last season, and it’s caught up with them. They’re paying the toll with injuries and a lack of form, and they’re in a bad space at the moment.
“Wolves are going to make it hard for Liverpool and will try to get something out of this Premier League game. I like their manager, and I think they’ll pull off a draw this weekend.”
There’s no denying that our former No. 10 is a world-class talent and it was a huge blow to see him leave – especially for a somewhat small fee of £35m.
Injuries to Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota (two players that can operate on the left wing as Mane did) certainly haven’t helped our attempts of being successful once again this season, but with our No. 20 returning to fitness in the coming weeks, alongside Bobby Firmino and Virgil van Dijk, the hope is that we can finish the campaign strongly.
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