Liverpool have reportedly identified Frenchman as replacement for Sadio Mane | OneFootball

Liverpool have reportedly identified Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele as an ideal replacement for Sadio Mane in the summer transfer window.

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, Liverpool are keen on signing Dembele this summer due to his contract situation at Barcelona potentially making him available.

The report claims Liverpool are looking for a replacement for Mane and Dembele’s contract expiring in 2022 makes him an attractive target for the Reds.

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ANFIELD WATCH VERDICT

Discarding Mane after a poor run of form in front of goal after a number of excellent seasons for Liverpool could be a very harsh decision by the club. Mane has gone nine Premier League matches without scoring a goal for the Reds and has only found the back of the net seven times in the league this term. Whilst that is not a particularly great return for the forward on paper, he has proven in the past that he is capable of being a consistent goalscorer.

Mane scored 40 goals in the two Premier League seasons prior to the current campaign, whilst also providing eight assists for his teammates. He has also scored 19 goals in the Champions League for Liverpool since the start of the 2017/18 season. This proves that Mane is an elite forward player and this season could just be a blip for the 29-year-old.

Dembele, who Liverpool have seemingly identified, has not scored more than eight league goals in a season since he left Rennes in 2016. He has also only assisted more than six goals once in his career, during the 2016/17 campaign with Dortmund. This suggests that his form over the last few years has not been much better than Mane’s this year, whilst the Liverpool man’s form leading up to this season was to a much higher standard than anything Dembele has managed in his career.