Sadio Mane may soon line-up against Liverpool as £17.4m issue clear

Sadio Mane could soon face Liverpool with a £17.4m outlay

Sadio Mane is set to leave Bayern Munich this summer, just a year after leaving Liverpool

Former Liverpool striker Sadio Mane is set to leave Bayern Munich after just one year this summer – his wage demands could lead to a return to the Premier League.

Mane ended his trophy-laden time at Anfield last summer. The Senegalese’s departure has created a gap which has been slow to close for the Reds as they have lacked his dynamic game for much of the current season.

But while celebrated at Liverpool, the 31-year-old has struggled with the reigning Bundesliga champions this season, having started just one of their last 11 games and being thrust into the spotlight by a ugly showdown in the dressing room with team-mate Leroy Sane last month after a 3-0 Champions League loss to Manchester City.

Sky Germany report that new Munich manager Thomas Tuchel will try to sack Mane this summer. Although there is no return to Liverpool in sight, reports suggest his €20m (£17.4m)-a-year salary could limit his options to a handful of Premier clubs. League, such is the purchasing power of the best English team compared to their European competitors. .

While Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain could be exceptions, the former have other expensive destinations on their to-do list this summer, including Jude Bellingham. Barca and PSG, meanwhile, need to cut costs, with the former having to save more than £200million in wages while trying to bring club legend Lionel Messi back to Camp Nou.

Liverpool have been unable or unwilling to pay the sums offered to Mane when he left Bayern last summer, particularly at a time when they were re-signing their superstar Mohamed Salah on a new contract which will would see as the highest paid player at the club. would make history.

Newcastle United, favorites for a Champions League spot next season, would have the resources and the profile to lure a player of Mane’s quality should his stay in Germany end prematurely. Mane, who scored 12 goals in an injury-ridden season that saw him miss the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, was a hero at Anfield thanks to a six-year spell in which he scored 120 goals in 269 appearances in all the competitions. During his tenure, the Reds won the Premier League, Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, FA Cup and League Cup.