Sadio Mane may have helped Liverpool sign a brilliant replacement for him

Sadio Mane put pen-to-paper on a three-year deal with Bayern Munich earlier this week as he called time on his Liverpool career. And his arrival in Germany could pave the way for Serge Gnabry to move in the opposite direction.

Mane enjoyed a superb six-year spell on Merseyside after joining Liverpool from Southampton in 2016 as he bagged 120 goals and 48 assists in 269 games for the club. And his performances helped the Reds win the Champions League and the Premier League among other trophies. But he decided to head for Germany a year before his contract in England was set to expire.

Bayern already have a plethora of attacking talent at the Allianz Arena and the addition of Mane will only add extra competition for places. And that could persuade Gnabry to turn his back on Munich.

Gnabry joined Bayern from Werder Bremen in 2017, a year after he had moved to the Bundesliga from Arsenal. And he has been sensational for Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The 26-year-old has hit double figures for goals in all four of his Bundesliga seasons for Bayern and found the back of the net 14 times in the league last season as his team cruised to their 10th consecutive title.

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Gnabry has won four league titles, the Champions League and the Club World Cup during his time in Bavaria and could still have his best years ahead of him. And if Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp feels he needs to bring in a new winger to make up for the loss of Mane, Gnabry could well be the man for him.

Gnabry still has one year left on his Bayern deal – but the club’s sporting chief executive Hasan Salihamidzic has hinted that he could now allow the player to leave this summer. “We really want to keep him,” Salihamidzic explained. “I hope that he chooses Bayern. If a player doesn’t want to decide for the club, then we can find a solution that makes everyone happy.”

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Mane is likely to become an important player in the Bayern frontline next season. And the 30-year-old Senegal international’s arrival means there will be more competition for Gnabry, even if Robert Lewandowski leaves.

The former Arsenal academy ace, it seems, wants to move on having yet to agree a new contract with Bayern. And perhaps with Mane going to Bavaria, Liverpool could look to rob Gnabry in return to give themselves an exciting wide attacker to replace Mane. They could even wait 12 months to land him on a free.