‘That’s funny’: Liverpool star on whether Mane’s departure has led to their struggles

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Liverpool have had a difficult season by their standards so far and Sadio Mane’s departure has been mentioned as a reason.

The Merseyside giants finished as the runner-up in the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League last season. They also won the FA Cup and the League Cup in what proved to be a rather successful campaign for Jurgen Klopp.

However, things changed drastically for the Reds after a promising start to the season which saw them beat Manchester City 3-1 in the Community Shield earlier this summer.

Liverpool now find themselves 8th in the Premier League table and virtually out of the title race.

There have been suggestions that the departure of Sadio Mane during the summer transfer window has led to Liverpool’s downfall. The Senegal international choose to move to Bayern Munich in the summer.

Centre-back Virgil van Dijk was asked whether the departure of Mane led to Liverpool’s struggles this season. Responding to the media following Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Premier League yesterday, Van Dijk revealed that there are a number of reasons behind Liverpool’s struggles but Mane’s departure is not one of them. 

He added that Mane was a massive player for Liverpool and the club did not want to let him leave. It was the player who chose to pursue a different adventure.

Van Dijk said (as quoted by Daily Mail): “That’s funny, but I don’t think it’s that personally.

“Obviously Sadio was a massive player for us, but he wanted to leave, it’s not that we wanted to let him go. We have players that have come in. Luis Diaz, outstanding. Darwin is getting to know how we really want to defend from the front and the importance of when we have the ball and when we don’t have the ball.

“It takes a bit of time in this case, but I don’t think that’s the exact reason why we are not performing.”

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