Liverpool: Paul Merson says selling Sadio Mane for £35m was the ‘worst business ever’
Liverpool’s decision to let Sadio Mane join Bayern Munich for £35million was the ‘worst business ever,’ according to Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson.
Mane left the Reds after six years at Anfield back in the summer, and the Reds have struggled ever since his departure.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have won just two out of their opening seven Premier League games and are already 11 points behind league leaders Arsenal – albeit, with a game in hand.
Merson in his Sky Sports column, has blamed Liverpool’s poor defensive record on Mane’s exit, and insisted that Darwin Nunez ‘isn’t in the same league’ as the Senegalese star.
He said: ‘I’ve said it from day one, in my opinion, selling Sadio Mane was the worst business ever. The bloke scores big, big goals. Go through them, first goals, equalisers, winning goals in last minutes, big goals.
He led from the front with his closing down, and for me, what they sold him for, I just didn’t get it. Darwin Nunez isn’t in the same league at the moment. Not in the same league at all.
‘Their problems at the back start from the front. They’re not closing down as a unit – you can go on about how talented that front three was, but they closed down from the front. It only took one more pass, and they’d score.’
Liverpool’s big-name stars at both ends of the pitch have struggled so far this season, most notably Mohamed Salah, and £85million man Darwin Nunez who is still taking time to gel in the Premier League.
Nunez didn’t help himself by missing three games for a headbutt on Crystal Palace’s Joachim Anderson.
The Reds have regularly conceded the first goal in their games this season, which was again the case against Brighton.