After winning the Bundesliga on the final day, Bayern demanded quick change, and Oliver Kahn, the company’s chief executive, and Hasan Salihamidzic, its sporting director, were fired.
After his team’s title-clinching 2-1 victory over Koln, Thomas Tuchel said that the news had “cast a bit of a cloud” over their achievement.
Raphael Honigstein of The Athletic reports that Tuchel will now be given “a lot more power than [Bayern] usually have” with managers.
That would seem to include Mane’s departure from the Allianz Arena after only one year due to a fight with teammate Leroy Sane in April for which the club fined and suspended him.
After the event, it was stated that Bayern would “try everything” to sell their No. 17, and more recently, Florian Plettenberg of Sky Germany stated that the Premier League was his “most realistic option.”
last has, naturally, sparked rumours that he would return to Anfield, and last week the Liverpool Echo awkwardly highlighted rumours from BILD that claim he might make a “shock return.”
The Echo’s report provides no context for the suggestion that Mane would rejoin Liverpool because it does not provide a link to the original source.
In any case, the 31-year-old will not be returning to his previous team for a number of reasons.
Primarily, this is due to Jurgen Klopp’s plenty of attacking options already at his disposal, including Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo who joined after Sadio Mane’s departure and Luis Diaz who was brought in before.
Now that Roberto Firmino has departed on a free transfer, the manager’s attacking line still includes Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota.
While a change in the approach might place greater focus on Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott as long-term offensive alternatives, there are also high hopes for Ben Doak to succeed.
Beyond that, it is clear that Liverpool’s objectives in the transfer market are elsewhere due to the need for funding a significant midfield overhaul.
Alexis Mac Allister of Brighton is the main target, but credible ties have also been made with Khephren Thuram of OGC Nice, Manu Kone of Borussia Monchengladbach, Mason Mount of Chelsea, and Ryan Gravenberch of Bayern.
The emphasis will be on bringing in at least two, and most likely three, new midfielders now that James Milner, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Arthur have all left the team.
Mane may be willing to return to Anfield and Bayern may be prepared to trade him, but Liverpool would no longer benefit from the fees involved.
According to GOAL’s‘s Neil Jones, who reported on the story in April, “Liverpool sources have offered little encouragement to such stories,” while BILD have stated that resigning is “not an option.”
Not to mention the obvious decrease he has had since changing teams, with Mane falling out of favour at Bayern because of a disconnect on the field.
Despite the fact that Mane added a new championship to his collection of achievements this year, he is currently in a precarious situation.
It’s still unclear where he’ll end up now that Liverpool isn’t in the cards.