Liverpool fans are aware of the talents of our players but when compliments for ex-Reds come from teammates, it must mean more – especially from a player as talented as Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Speaking on The Overlap, the vice captain spoke about Sadio Mane: “He had everything, the movement was unbelievable, with him as an athlete he was probably in the end similar to [Cristiano] Ronaldo I would say.

“He had the jump, he could get up, he was fast.”

READ MORE: (Video) Alexander-Arnold destroys Robertson with brutal assist put-down

After saying that the Senegalese forward was the one teammate our No.66 is glad that he didn’t have to play against, it’s clear the Scouser has a lot of respect for the 32-year-old.

Now Al-Nassr get to enjoy watching both Cristiano Ronaldo and our former player in the same team but it’s safe to say the best days are behind the duo.

You can watch Alexander-Arnold’s comments on Mane (from 43:08) via The Overlap on YouTube:

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Liverpool have had some amazing players in the last few years and Trent Alexander-Arnold has had the pleasure of playing with most of them, although he’s thankful he didn’t play against one in particular.

Speaking on The Overlap, the Scouser discussed Sadio Mane: “He’s the one player that I played with that I always thought I’m thankful I never played against, he would have been my worst nightmare”

READ MORE: (Video) Alexander-Arnold on times he ‘needed a b*********’ from Klopp

We don’t really need to add much more to this, it’s pretty obvious why anyone would hate having to come up against our former No.10 and his departure from the Reds was a tough one for all of us to take.

Thankfully, we haven’t had to cope too much with seeing the attacker before or after his Anfield career as his best days were spent under the stewardship of Jurgen Klopp.

You can watch Alexander-Arnold’s comments on Mane (from 42:54) via The Overlap on YouTube:

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Micah Richards has been purring over one former Liverpool dynamo who he’s ranked above John Barnes on a list of the top 10 all-time Premier League wingers.

The ex-Manchester City defender joined Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer on the BBC Match of the Day Top 10 Podcast to make their selections, with the 35-year-old placing the Senegal star seventh, ahead of Riyad Mahrez, Robert Pires and the legendary ‘Digger’.

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Richards explained: “Sadio Mane, he should be higher. The peer pressure has got to me from social media. He was at number seven for me. He had everything, didn’t he?

“Who do we think is better all-round? We know [Mo] Salah is the better goalscorer, but who’s the better all-round player?”

READ MORE: ‘He could step up’ – Ex-Man Utd player says ‘elite’ £50k-p/w EPL ace would succeed at Liverpool

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Even if Barnes was approaching the twilight years of his career by the time the Premier League began, it’s still quite a feather in Mane’s cap for Richards to rank him above ‘Digger’ in the division’s top 10 wingers.

That said, the Senegalese wizard was a crucial factor in Liverpool’s success under Jurgen Klopp, scoring 120 times in 269 appearances for the Reds and winning the biggest prizes on offer at Anfield (Transfermarkt).

Along with Salah and Bobby Firmino, he formed a core part of an attacking triumvirate which was the envy of even the biggest clubs in European football, hence why Bayern Munich signed him in 2022.

The £34m that LFC spent to acquire Mane in 2016 proved to be an almighty bargain considering his output and how effortlessly he slotted into the team.

In time when we reflect on our best years under Klopp, the Senegal attacker will be recognised as one of the central figures to our Premier League and Champions League triumphs. A genius of a player!

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There are many players that leave Liverpool but remain in the hearts of our supporters but when it comes to Sadio Mane and Bobby Firmino, there aren’t many our fans will love more.

The pair currently play in Saudi Arabia and the match between Al-Ahli and Al-Nassr provided them a chance for a reunion after the game.

READ MORE: (Video) Klopp on how Bobby Clark ruined pre-Man United preparation against Sparta Prague

It’s not the first time we’ve seen this type of interaction with some of Jurgen Klopp’s former players who are now in the middle east but it shows how strong the bond was and is between his players.

Let’s hope that a legends game in the future sees the full front three play back in front of a loving Anfield crowd once more.

You can watch the interaction between Firmino and Mane via @SPL_EN on X:

The lads back together

Two thirds of the best front three we've ever seen #LFC pic.twitter.com/64jdht5XLE

— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) March 15, 2024

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Andre Onana’s season went from bad to worse on Friday, and it was a former Liverpool favourite who piled on the misery for the Manchester United goalkeeper.

The 27-year-old’s first campaign at Old Trafford has seen him culpable of numerous blunders, and he endured another horror show for Cameroon on Friday as they lost 3-1 to Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Sadio Mane put the seal on the defending champions’ victory in the fourth minute of stoppage time with a first-time finish which rolled rather than rocketed into the net, with Onana reacting late and unable to get a hand to it despite the shot being far from powerful.

It’s a moment which’ll make United fans recoil in despair after another howler from their first-choice stopper, while Liverpool fans will lap up the double whammy of a modern-day Anfield icon heaping further woe on the beleaguered Red Devils netminder.

You can view Onana’s blunder for Mane’s goal below, via @SkyFootball on X (formerly Twitter):

Sadio Mane SEALS victory for Senegal

The former Liverpool striker scores his first of the tournament pic.twitter.com/jdyVYZbqWc

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 19, 2024

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Daniel Sturridge admitted that there was little he could do to stop the development of the iconic Liverpool front three of Mo Salah, Bobby Firmino and Sadio Mane.

The 34-year-old was at Anfield alongside that famous trio for a season-and-a-half between 2017 and 2019, seeing his game-time diminish to the point where he had a half-term loan spell at West Brom.

Speaking on punditry duty for Sky Sports on MNF, the Englishman could sense that ‘something special’ was brewing when the three of them began playing together at Anfield, leaving him on the periphery of Jurgen Klopp’s squad.

Sturridge said: “This is probably the best trio in regards to understanding of each other…They were just a great trio. You see Salah still putting up the numbers. I think they all had that camaraderie. They knew where each other would be; that chemistry was there..

“I was on the bench. Of course I wanted to play, but I knew these guys had a vibe going. Sometimes with something special, you have to let it rock.”

The 34-year-old was part of another excellent Liverpool front three alongside Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling earlier in the decade, but the Salah-Firmino-Mane triumvirate was arguably the world’s best forward line at its peak.

As Sturridge said, those three quickly developed an innate understanding of each others’ game and were a nightmare for opposition defenders to contain. Even if one or two of them were shackled, the other could make a match-winning impact.

How blessed we were to have that trio at Anfield in the prime of their respective careers!

You can view Sturridge’s comments on that famous front three below, via @SkySportsPL on Twitter/X:

"This is probably the best trio in regards to understanding of each other"@DanielSturridge on Salah, Mane and Firmino pic.twitter.com/EXo2dh8UFK

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 6, 2023

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The Premier League’s record goalscorer has ranked a legendary Liverpool trio as the greatest front three in the division’s 31-year history.

Alan Shearer selected the triumvirate of Mo Salah, Bobby Firmino and Sadio Mane at the top of the pile when it came to three-pronged attacking units in the top flight.

The Newcastle legend was asked for his top 10 along with Gary Lineker and Micah Richards on the latest instalment of Match of the Day Top 10 [via GIVEMESPORT] when he went for the Anfield trio ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney at Manchester United.

His fellow BBC pundits both went with the Old Trafford attack as their greatest Premier League trio, selecting the famous Liverpool forward line of 2017-2022 in second place. All three had the early to mid 2000s Arsenal attack of Robert Pires, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp in third.

READ MORE: Journalist: Liverpool very keen on midfield destroyer who’s ‘standing out’ at his current club

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As with many such lists, this is a debate which’ll rage on elsewhere and cause inevitable uproar among many who partake in that particular discussion.

However, we certainly approve of Shearer’s selection, and the table below (which shows how many goals Salah, Firmino and Mane scored during their five years together at Liverpool) is a little reminder why:

That amounts to 245 in the Premier League (49 per season) and 338 in all competitions (67.6 average per season) between that legendary front three when they were teammates at Anfield.

It isn’t just the goal output which made them such a brilliant forward line, either. Firmino’s indefatigable work off the ball as a ‘false 9’ helped hugely to facilitate the more prolific Salah and Mane to gobble up goals, with the three of them working brilliantly in tandem.

The Egyptian is the last man standing at Liverpool among that iconic trio, but thankfully in Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo (all 26 or younger), Jurgen Klopp has plenty of firepower in place to ensure that the Reds should remain frighteningly potent for many years to come.

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Sadio Mane and Bobby Firmino will forever be associated together due to their time at Anfield and it seems that our former No.10 forgot that he was now the opponent of an old friend.

During the match between Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli, our former heroes were playing for the opposite teams and after one goal for the home side – the Senegalese winger jumped on the back of our former No.9.

READ MORE: (Video) New angle shows Stefan Bajcetic’s LASK tackle in all its glory

The Brazilian didn’t seem as happy as his old friend in the moment and it was quite a strange decision from the former Bayern Munich man to almost mock his former teammate.

We’re sure that there’s no bad blood between the two but it’s certainly an interaction that’s worth a watch!

You can watch the video of Mane and Firmino via @lfcels on X:

Lol Sadio jumping on Bobby’s back after his team scored pic.twitter.com/9hDlKOeouy

— 𝙀𝙡𝙨 𝙀 (@lfcels) September 23, 2023

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Sadio Mane netted his first goal for new club Al Nassr earlier today as he put his side 1-0 up against Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq.

Our former captain’s side, which included Jordan Henderson in the starting XI, replied with two early goals in the second half, however, to open their Saudi Pro League campaign with a huge three points.

After leaving Liverpool for Bayern Munich last summer Mane was expected to shine in the Bundesliga.

The Senegal international never really settled in Germany, however, and despite helping Bayern win the title again last term he moved to the Middle East in a deal worth £24m (Sky Sports).

READ MORE: ‘Terrific’ – Danny Murphy blown away by one Liverpool player’s performance against Chelsea

Our former No. 10 may have put a smile on Gerrard’s face on numerous occasions down the years with his goals for Jurgen Klopp’s side but the Scouser will have been fuming with how easily he wondered into the box unchallenged and fired home from close range.

Gerrard, though, will have been delighted with how his side reacted after the interval!

Check Mane’s goal below via @TheAnfieldTalk on Twitter:

Mané takes the lead vs Hendo and Stevie! pic.twitter.com/mV3wVnMMpA

— The Anfield Talk (@TheAnfieldTalk) August 14, 2023

The post (Video) Sadio Mane nets his first Al Nassr goal against Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Sadio Mane has revealed that two of his former Liverpool teammates played a significant role in convincing him to join the Saudi Pro League revolution of 2023.

The 31-year-old only left Anfield for Bayern Munich a year ago, but he recently joined Al Nassr, becoming the fourth member of the Reds’ Premier League-winning squad of 2020 to move to the Middle Eastern country since the end of last season.

Jordan Henderson (Al Ettifaq), Bobby Firmino (Al Ahli) and Fabinho (Al-Ittihad) have also traded Merseyside for the Middle East, and the Senegal attacker said that the latter two had a big hand in persuading him to make that career decision.

Mane told The National: “I think first of all I spoke with Firmino for sure. I think he wanted me to come to the wrong club – I’m joking! He always called two or three times to convince me to come to Al Ahli.

“At the same time I spoke with Fabinho because he was quite close to me and he also wanted me to come to Al Ittihad, but in this time when Al Nassr came, I chose Al Nassr.”

The 31-year-old added that his mother also encouraged him to make the Saudi Arabia move, explaining: “Since I had the opportunity I spoke to my family, and they were happiest of course because it is a Muslim country. 

“My mum especially encouraged me to go. My mum is Muslim like me, she was the first to vote for me to go there and my whole family was excited for me to come here so it was not hard – it is important to my faith.”

READ MORE: (Video) ‘A big reason…’ – Jordan Henderson explains his decision to leave Liverpool for Al Ettifaq

READ MORE: ‘Are you worried…’ – Former EPL winner fears for Liverpool player who looks ‘unsure’ of his role

Mane’s move to the Saudi Pro League didn’t have the same shock value as Henderson and Fabinho, for instance, with the Senegal star enduring an unhappy time in Munich during his sole season at Bayern as his performances were criticised and he fell out with teammate Leroy Sane.

Religious reasons also appear to have been a central factor in him joining Al Nassr, and a friendly word from some of his former Liverpool teammates must’ve been quite persuasive as well.

Still, if you were told on 22 July 2020 – the night the Reds lifted the Premier League trophy – that four key members of the squad would be playing in Saudi Arabia within three years, you’d have found it impossible to believe.

Even after a widespread summer influx of high-profile footballing talent to the Middle East, it seems crazy to comprehend that so many glittering players are no longer involved with Europe’s major clubs.

The thing is…who could be next? We surely haven’t heard the last of the big-name signings from Saudi Pro League teams.

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As much as there has been plenty of public scrutiny over the decision for many former Reds to move to Saudi Arabia, it has provided us with a beautiful moment between Sadio Mane and Jordan Henderson.

As the newest stars in the league were shown off to the onlooking media, it handed two of Jurgen Klopp’s best players to have a moment together backstage.

READ MORE: (Images) Henderson, Gerrard and Mane unveiled to Saudi fans but Fabinho and Firmino absent

The Senegalese forward embraced his former captain and then said: “I can’t believe I’ve seen you again”.

It’s a moment that will surely touch the heart of many of our supporters, despite any thoughts on the decisions of players to move to the Saudi Pro League.

You can watch the video of Henderson and Mane via @SPL_EN on X:

2019 – European champions
2023 – #RoshnSaudiLeague stars 🫂

Forever reds #yallaRSL pic.twitter.com/WR6BBjOgAT

— Roshn Saudi League (@SPL_EN) August 7, 2023

#Ep83 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones

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It’s no secret that Fabinho, Bobby Firmino, Jordan Henderson, Steven Gerrard and Sadio Mane have all swapped Merseyside for Saudi Arabia and three of the new middle east stars were unveiled in front of their new fans.

All the league’s major new acquisitions were on show but there was strangely no place for the Brazilians as champions Al-Ittihad showed off the likes of Karim Benzema, Nuno Espirito Santo and Romarinho instead of our former No.3.

READ MORE: Carragher tells Neville ‘you haven’t a clue’ in online FSG spat

It’s strange to see such a strong Liverpool representation in the Saudi Pro League and there will be many of our supporters keeping an eye on results and performances of our former heroes.

It’s set to be a landmark year for the newest force in football and may well pave the way for a game changing league to become a real major force.

You can view the images of Henderson, Gerrard and Mane via @SPL_EN on X:

#Ep83 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones

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Sadio Mane has followed the likes of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Steven Gerrard by making the switch to Saudi Arabia and he’s been faced with questioning as to whether Mo Salah will be joining him in the middle east.

As the Senegalese forward walked past supporters of Al-Nassr, he was asked: “Where’s Mo Salah?”.

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Our supporters will love the response of our No.10, as he simply replied: “He’s in Liverpool!”.

With rumours circling that the Egyptian could be convinced to join a club in the Saudi Pro League too, this slight hint that he will be remaining on Merseyside will be gratefully received.

You can view the Mane response about Salah via Reddit user u/LuciferIlluminati:

“Where’s Mo Salah?”Sadio Mane: “He’s in Liverpool”.
by u/LuciferIlluminati in LiverpoolFC

#Ep83 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones

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Sadio Mane will have made Liverpool fans chuckle with his reaction to Cristiano Ronaldo’s late equaliser on the former Reds attacker’s debut for Al-Nassr.

The Senegal star came off the bench at half-time in his new club’s 1-1 draw against Zamalek in the Arab Club Champions Cup, in which the ex-Manchester United man struck to prevent his team from falling to defeat.

It would’ve been no surprise to see the 38-year-old performing his trademark ‘siuuu’ celebration, although not many would’ve been ready for his new teammate to duly copy him with his own take on the ubiquitous move.

Mane celebrating in the style of a colleague isn’t a novel sight to Liverpool fans, though, having copied Bobby Firmino’s kung-fu kick and gun-slinging gestures when they played together at Anfield.

It seems that not even the 31-year-old’s frustrating spell at Bayern Munich has knocked any of the fun out of him!

You can see Mane’s take on the ‘siuuu’ below, via @MediaGoal7 on Twitter:

SSIIIIIIIII#النصر_الرجاء_المغربي pic.twitter.com/TN8CHjSRDS

— ميديا #النصر_الرجاء (@MediaGoal7) August 6, 2023

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It’s not just Jordan Henderson and Fabinho’s moves to Saudi Arabia which could affect Liverpool’s transfer plans this summer.

As reported by the Liverpool Echo, the Reds could also be impacted indirectly if Sadio Mane completes his impending move to Al-Nassr from Bayern Munich, to which Fabrizio Romano gave the ‘here we go’ on Friday.

The 31-year-old left Anfield for Bavaria just last year for an initial £27.5m, with the deal potentially rising to £35m. However, the £7.5m discrepancy from add-ons which would’ve been triggered by achievement-based bonuses and reaching a tally of appearances now looks set to fall by the wayside.

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While Mane was one of the leading lights of the Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool, his time in Munich has been largely miserable thus far.

He missed three months of the campaign through an injury which also cost him a place at the World Cup and allegedly punched teammate Leroy Sane following a 3-0 Champions League defeat to Manchester City in April, barely featuring in the latter weeks of the campaign (Liverpool Echo).

Bayern as a whole fell short of expectations in 2022/23 despite winning an 11th straight Bundesliga title, barely getting over the line on the final day and suffering sobering exits from every knockout competition in which they participated.

His achievement-based bonuses are therefore unlikely to have been triggered, while any add-on for appearances made would surely have taken more than 38 games to activate.

The knock-on effect of Mane’s impending exit from Bavaria after only one year is that the £7.5m in add-ons that Liverpool could reasonably have expected when they agreed the deal in 2022 now looks almost certain not to materialise.

It’s not what the Reds would’ve wanted, and it’s sad to see the Senegal star’s fortunes decline so drastically, but at least we can take satisfaction from Klopp’s side getting the best years of this magnificent player’s career.

#Ep83 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones

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