‘May have to leave Liverpool’: Pundit has a warning for £100k-a-week Reds star

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Liverpool forward Sadio Mane may have to leave Anfield if he’s to achieve his ambition of winning the Ballon d’Or, according to retired Senegal international Diomansy Kamara.

The 28-year-old has enjoyed another superb season at Liverpool, playing a crucial role as the Reds surged 25 points clear at the top of the Premier League table and on the brink of a first title since 1990.

Mane has claimed an impressive 18 goals and 12 assists in 38 appearances in all competitions this term, while his overall tally for Liverpool stands at 77 goals and 34 assists from 161 appearances.

However, despite winning the Champions League last year and being superb for Jurgen Klopp’s side in the Premier League in 2018-19 and this term, the £100,000-a-week ace still finished a distant fourth in the 2019 Ballon D’Or voting.

In an interview with The Times on Tuesday, Mane reiterated his desire and outlined his determination to become only the second African player after George Weah in 1995 to win the prestigious accolade.

Although the former Southampton star remains happy at Anfield, his compatriot Kamara believes that a move to either Real Madrid or Barcelona would enhance his chances of achieving that ambition.

“If Mane one day wants to win the Ballon d’Or, he may have to leave Liverpool as the club are maybe not the best advocates for him, despite their outstanding performances,” Kamara told ESPN.

“He needs to continue on the road he’s going down, as he wasn’t too far from finishing on the podium, and even for me he maybe deserved to win it this year.

“Now he needs to continue to work, and maybe even change clubs, because we’ve seen that Liverpool don’t really play to Mane’s strengths and [people] gave their votes to Virgil van Dijk even though Mane and to a lesser extend Mohamed Salah were equally in the running.

“So we have to talk about Real Madrid. His style of play is a bit closer to the criteria they’re looking for over there, and if I was his agent, I’d take him to Spain… Barcelona as well.”

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A bold claim by the former Senegal international and one that Liverpool fans may well scoff at, given how far Mane has progressed at Anfield, how crucial he is to Klopp’s side, and how much he’s cherished by the Reds faithful.

That said, there is the suggestion that he would stand out more as an individual were he to move to either Real or Barca.

But would Mane really risk making the leap from a successful, trophy-winning team where he enjoys his football, gets on with his coach, and is loved by fans, to one where one or all of these things may not necessarily apply, on the off-chance it might just increase his hopes of getting the Ballon d’Or?

What if he moves clubs and they don’t play to his strengths, or doesn’t get along with the coach, and in the end does his career more harm than good?