Has the Lewandowski replacement been found yet?

FC Bayern shows concrete interest in Sadio Mane from Liverpool FC. The Senegalese has apparently already informed his club that he wants to leave the Reds. This raises questions: Why does he want to leave? Why is FCB interested? And what would that mean for Robert Lewandowski? SPOX clarifies.

In the good old days, footballers’ contracts expired. At some point you sat together, the club called a number and the player signed the extension. If he didn’t like the amount or had other reasons to leave the club, he was sold for a fee.

There was no hurry as a player and certainly not as a club. Things have changed since Bosman, and the phenomenon has now become widespread that people panic even a year before the end of the contract if an extension has not yet been signed. You can currently see how justified this is at FC Bayern. Robert Lewandowski has 13 months left on his contract, but the Munich bosses have to explain every day that the world-class striker is staying, even though he wants to leave.

While one is visibly annoyed by the Lewandowski story and the interest of FC Barcelona, Bayern have been forming for some time to take advantage of the tricky situation of a player whose contract ends in 2023: Sadio Mane.

Like Lewandowski, the 30-year-old Senegalese wants to leave his club Liverpool FC a year before the end of his contract. FC Bayern is considered a promising candidate for a purchase, if Liverpool of course sells. A sum of less than 50 million euros is expected as a transfer fee.

Now there are a few questions that need to be answered. The first would be…

Why does Sadio Mane want to leave Liverpool?

Sadio Mane has been with Liverpool for six years. He is considered the most important figure in the Reds’ transformation to Klopp football. Mane came to Liverpool because of Klopp and even threw away an agreement with Manchester United because the German was so personally committed to the transfer, which he wanted to make when he was in Dortmund, going through.

It was even okay for Mane that he wasn’t allowed to play in his desired position. In a phone call, Senegalese Klopp explained that he would like to play on the left. “He then said: ‘But Coutinho is playing on the left!’ Then I said no problem, I’ll play on the right.” When Mohamed Salah came and Coutinho moved to FC Barcelona, Mane then moved to the left.

When Luis Diaz was signed by FC Porto for 47 million euros in winter, the Colombian took over on the left – and Mane moved into the centre. Without background noise, without public debate. But now it’s probably time for Mane to make another change at the age of 30 in order to write his own history as a superstar somewhere else.

Not being the player who just works everywhere and gets pushed back and forth by the coach because a new star has arrived. Not that that’s a problem for Mane – but that the attacker does not play the primary role in the club’s favor can be seen in the order of the contract talks. The club has been talking to Mohamed Salah’s advisors about a new contract for what feels like an eternity. Salah’s contract outshines everything.

The club only spoke to Mane much later. Financial concerns are heard to be less of a priority, with Liverpool bosses’ cautious approach compared to the other top Premier League teams giving Mane the certainty that there won’t be a mega leap that could turn his head . The fact that he is apparently willing to agree to an annual gross salary of 15 million euros at FC Bayern is an indication that this is actually a new challenge that FC Bayern can probably also offer him.