SIZZLING SADIO IS MY MANE TO BE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
THERE comes a point at this time of the season when you get an idea of who will be named PFA Player of the Year and I believe I saw him on Wednesday. What a pleasure it was to see Sadio Mane in full cry against Everton. I played against the Senegal forward a few times, first when he was at Southampton and then at Liverpool, but the man I saw lighting up the Merseyside derby had made unbelievable progress. He is a fine example of the work Jurgen Klopp has done. Every player in Liverpool’s squad has benefited from having Klopp as his manager; every player has improved. Mane’s development this season has been on another level. He was unplayable in the Merseyside derby. His ball to Divock Origi for the opening goal was out of this world, while the finish when he scored was picture-book. There is a calmness about what he does and if a club tried to buy him now, they would be looking at £150million. Should he maintain this standard, he could well become the third Liverpool player in a row to receive the recognition of their fellow professionals, following Mohamed Salah in 2017-18 and Virgil van Dijk last season. I thought in September that Raheem Sterling would be a shoo-in for the honour, given the way he started for Manchester City, but Mane has matched him stride for stride. I change my mind every week about who is my favourite in Liverpool’s front three and after Wednesday I’m with Mane. The right answer really, though, should be — all of them. There is no point trying to say who is better between Mane, Salah and Roberto Firmino. We should just enjoy the fact that we have an attack of this quality in the Premier League.