The Liverpool manager described Sadio Mane as an “icon of the modern era” for the English club after the Senegalese striker’s 32 million euro ($33.5 million) transfer to Bayern Munich was completed on Wednesday.
“It is a great moment. There is no point in pretending otherwise,” Klopp said. “One of the greatest players in Liverpool history is leaving and we must recognize how significant he is.”
Mané, 30, signed a contract with Bayern until June 2025, a deal that could end up worth 41 million euros ($42.9 million) when including variables.
“There are very few players like him in the world,” Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn said. “We are convinced that Sadio Mané will give our fans a lot of joy in the coming years with his spectacular style of play. He is ambitious and wants to win more titles. This package is very, very strong.”
Klopp’s sentiments were similar.
“He leaves us with our gratitude and our love,” the Liverpool manager said. “He leaves us with his status among the best guaranteed. And yes, he leaves us at a time when he is one of the best footballers in the world. But we should not focus on what we lose, but celebrate what we were privileged to have. The goals he scored, the trophies he won. A legend, without a doubt, but also an icon of the modern era of Liverpool.
Mané completed what was undoubtedly the best campaign of his career, scoring the decisive penalty to win the African Cup of Nations for Senegal, helping the country to qualify for the World Cup and shining for Liverpool in a season in which the club he flirted with getting a poker of titles.
He won it all with Liverpool: the Champions League and Club World Cup in 2019, the Premier League in 2020 and the FA and English League Cups in 2022. He has also scored 31 goals in 89 games for Senegal and was named the Best Player of Africa in 2019.
“I had no doubt from the beginning: this is the right time for this challenge,” said Mané.
“I come from a great club with which I won everything,” he added in his presentation. Now, having met the manager (Julian Nagelsmann) and watched some Bayern games in the Bundesliga, I am convinced that we can achieve great things together. I believe in the project”.
Liverpool already has a replacement for Mané after the signing of Uruguayan striker Darwin Núñez from Benfica in Portugal.
At Bayern, Mané arrives amid speculation that Polish star Robert Lewandoski is preparing to leave. Lewandowski, who has scored 312 goals in 384 Bundesliga games for Bayern and Borussia Dortmund, his previous club, has been pushing for an exit since the end of the season.
