Sadio Mane ‘excited’ to join Barcelona in £90m move

Liverpool star Sadio Mane can’t wait to join Barcelona.

Last week news broke that the Spanish side may be looking to sign the forward if Lionel Messi leaves, and it appears like that’s left an impression on our star.

The Independent have shared a report from Mundo Deportivo that claims Sadio Mane is ‘excited’ by the thought of playing in La Liga.

Liverpool would want around £90 million for the Senegal international, who still has three years left on his contract – said the Indy.

At 28-years-old, this would represent good value for money on a theoretical level, but practically it would be very hard to rationalise any sale of a key player.

Mane has become vital to the way Liverpool play, and with the transfer market looking sluggish it doesn’t appear as if the club will have too many replacements up their sleeve.

There’s already some discontent surrounding a lack of transfer activity and this would be the final nail in the coffin for some. The way Liverpool have dragged their feet over Thiago shows an alarming lack of urgency.

The Community Shield performance against Arsenal shows that this side can lack creativity when Andy Robertson isn’t at his best and Trent Alexander-Arnold isn’t playing. To let someone of Mane’s calibre leave two weeks before the season starts would be unforgivable.

Despite the shambles Barcelona are in, they can still turn heads thanks to their history and the weight of their name. Mane probably grew up dreaming of playing at the Camp Nou and it’s of little surprise to hear that it’s got him excited.

But he should be careful. The team is set up to allow him to flourish, Jurgen Klopp is a better manager than Ronald Koeman and the fans love him.

There’s no guarantee he’ll be loved by the Catalan crowd, who are famously fickle.

This is a move Liverpool just can’t allow to happen.