Reece James names Sadio Mane as one of his three toughest opponents

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Reece James has picked out Sadio Mane alongside Vinicius Jr and Rafael Leao as one of the three hardest opponents he has faced during his career in a Twitter Q&A, having come up against the forward seven times while he was at Liverpool.

Plenty has been said about Mane since his departure from the Reds in the summer. The Senegalese had not had the best spell of his career before his move to Bayern Munich. Nevertheless, there is no question that he is one of the greatest players the club have had, particularly in the Premier League era.

He scored 120 goals and contributed 49 assists in 269 games for the Reds in all competitions.

Reece James praises Sadio Mane

And seven of those games came against James.

Chelsea won just two of those fixtures. But it is safe to say that Liverpool came out on top, winning four times. In fact, the final two meetings between the pair resulted in Jurgen Klopp’s men lifting the Carabao Cup and then the FA Cup.

James was taking part in a Twitter Q&A when he was asked about the hardest opponents he has come up against in his career. And in his answer, he picked out Mane as one of those who sticks out.

Of course, you can understand why some may criticise the decision from Liverpool to sell Mane. However, the Reds had to get on with refreshing the squad which had brought them so much success.

On previous evidence, perhaps Roberto Firmino would have been the obvious choice to move on. But then, he has been outstanding at times this season. And few forwards in world football tick the same boxes the Brazilian does.

Mane will forever be a legend to Liverpool. And, in truth, part of the reason for that is probably that he did not outstay his welcome before moving on.