Diogo Jota is the one who will truly replace Sadio Mané at Liverpool – not Darwin Nunez or Luis Diaz. The forward has the specific skill.
Sadio Mané left Liverpool this week in what is the biggest departure at the club for a long time. Yes, Philippe Coutinho’s exit was a bigger deal but this is the Reds losing one of their key players from their most successful side in decades.
And Mané has been a key player in several ways. Primarily, he’s been key simple because he’s a world-class footballer. The Senegal star delivered some of the biggest moments under Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool won every trophy.
Then there’s the fact that Mané was Klopp’s first major signing. He was the trigger for all of this, the one who brought the specific skills Liverpool needed to make their new plan work.
But Mané is also unique under Klopp in another way. He’s been the go-to when change is necessary in attack, having played all roles in the front three across his time at Liverpool. Starting out on the right wing, Mané moved to the left when Mohamed Salah arrived.
He’s also been the cover for Roberto Firmino in the middle, however, as Klopp trusted Mané to comfortably deliver in any role. It meant that as long as Liverpool had their no.10 available, they could build a world-class attack.
And fortunately, they haven’t lost that skill.
Diogo Jota can replace Sadio Mané
Because Mané moved around, it’s hard to say who replaces him. Luis Diaz takes his place on the left wing but the two played alongside one another last season – so he’s hardly a replacement.
Darwin Nunez isn’t really replacing him, though. He’s a completely different type of player – as much replacing and upgrading on Divock Origi as Mané.
Instead, the true Mané replacement is Diogo Jota. He’s now the one without a defined role in the squad and the one who can play all three roles going forward. Primarily known from the left, the Portugal star has developed into a fantastic centre-forward, too.
Michael Owen sees him as a wonderful scorer now.
“The timing of his runs is absolutely brilliant,” Owen told Premier League Productions. “Very, very dangerous in the air.”
His two-footedness means Jota can also play from the right, though – something Klopp tried more often last season. And that will come in incredibly handy as Salah is really the only player in the squad who can play there now Mané is gone.
Jota might not have quite the same first-team role as Mané did but he’ll fill that void of a vital versatile player.
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