MANE MOVING PARTS
Anfield hero Sadio nears exit door as Bayern want him to replace Barca bound Lewandowski
SADIO MANE has moved closer to leaving Liverpool for Bayern Munich after Robert Lewandowski confirmed he is quitting the German giants.
Bayern want Mane to replace Lewandowski and the Senegal star has decided to leave Anfield this summer.
Bayern are confident they can tempt Mane to the Allianz Arena with the offer of a three-year deal worth around £250,000-a-week.
The Bundesliga champions’ CEO Oliver Kahn watched Mane play for Liverpool in Saturday ’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.
Le wan dow ski ,33, confirmed he plans to quit Bayern after eight years and the Poland striker is understood to have a verbal agreement to join Barcelona.
Lewandowski’s exit will clear the way for Bayern to move for Mane, although they have yet to open transfer talks with Liverpool.
On international duty with Poland, Lewandowski, who has one year left on his Bayern deal, said: “One thing is certain today, my story with Bayern is over. I don’t see any possibility to continue playing for this club any more.
“Bayern is a serious club and I believe they won’t keep me, I don’t want to play there any more. A transfer is the best solution. I hope they don’t stop me.”
Mane, 30, has one year left on his contract at Anfield and has rejected Liverpool’s offer of new terms.
The Senegal star has yet to tell Liverpool he wants to leave and did not clarify his future as promised after the Champions League Final.
Bayern feel Mane’s contract status lowers his transfer value and are prepared to offer only £25million for the attacker. Liverpool paid Southampton £30m for Mane six years ago and want at least £35m for him.
For the tens of thousands of fans who thronged the city streets on Sunday, their last sight of Mane in a Liverpool shirt may well be of him looking glum on the open-top bus parade.
As Mane surveyed the sea of red below him holding the Carabao Cup, he looked like a man who had already decided he wanted to say goodbye to all of this after six successful years.
But if Liverpool choose to cash in, then they will be faced with how do you solve a problem like Mane?
He has been a star for them since he announced his arrival from Southampton in August 2016 with a stunning solo goal on his debut against Arsenal at the
Emirates. In many ways he was the catalyst for the Reds’ rise under Jurgen Klopp and his fingerprints are all over the six trophies they have won in the last four seasons.
He has an impressive 120 goals and 37 assists in his 269 games, even though he is not a natural striker, and only Mo Salah can better that strikerate for Liverpool.
Mane was their second on d-t to pop scorer in the Premier League last season, with 16 and 23 in all competitions. Jota can replace Mane’s goals and he scored 21 times last season, including 15 in the Premier League, and is more of an out-and-out striker. Liverpool are signing Portuguese teen sensation Fabio Carvalho from Fulham this summer and he will be fast-tracked into the first-team squad to help replace Mane. They may feel they have enough with Carvalho, Diaz and Jota to cope with his loss but last season showed the importance of having a strong squad andan Klopp may want a replacement. Ousmane Dembele is available on a free from Barcelona, while Liverpool have been linked with Villarreal’s Arnaut Danjuma. Benfica’s Darwin Nunez would also be an option i f Klopp wanted No.9