The uncertainty surrounding Sadio Mane's future is a larger issue for Liverpool than many of their fans realize.
The Senegal international appears to be looking for a move away from Anfield, despite being one of the major guys who kept Liverpool's quadruple dreams alive in a difficult finale to the 2012/13 season.
Mane scored nine goals in Liverpool's final 14 games, including a crucial equalizer away at Manchester City in a league match, followed by a brace against them in the FA Cup semi-final. He also scored in both legs of Liverpool's Champions League semi-final victory over Villarreal, whilst Mohamed Salah was absent during that crucial period.
Salah only scored three goals in a 14-game stretch near the end of the season, two in a 4-0 win over Manchester United and one against Wolves on the final day of the season. Thibaut Courtois may well have added to that and delivered the Champions League for Liverpool if it hadn't been for some outstanding goalkeeping heroics, but he wasn't in top form going into that huge game — far from it.
Salah is 30 this month, and he won't be able to help the team recover on his own after Mane's departure. Manchester City have already added Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez to their front line, so the Reds will undoubtedly need to respond with a significant financial expenditure.
Is Christopher Nkunku the ideal Liverpool signing?
If there's anyone right now who appears like a perfect fit for Liverpool's requirements, it's Christopher Nkunku, who is coming off the best season of his career with RB Leipzig.
In all competitions, the France international scored 35 goals and added 14 assists for Leipzig in 2021/22, primarily in a new-look center role after previously functioning out wide and in other midfield areas.
Nkunku, who is 24 years old, appears to be nearing his peak, and he will be anxious to win major trophies after just winning one domestic cup with his current club and scarcely appearing in Ligue 1 title victory with Paris Saint-Germain earlier in his career.
Fabrizio Romano has written exclusively for CaughtOffside to make it clear that Leipzig will require a "crazy" offer to trade their star player, but Liverpool must start acting like the giant club they are.
Nkunku, Christopher
Christopher Nkunku congratulates himself on a goal.
It's understandable that LFC is careful about who they spend their money on, with Virgil van Dijk being their most expensive signing by far, but he proved to be a game-changer for the club when he arrived. Others, such as Salah and Mane, were not very pricey, but they arrived at a time when the club was still attempting to establish itself as a top-four contender rather than actually being one of the finest on the planet.
Liverpool came close to completing a quadruple in the end, but there were plenty of close victories in the Premier League (2-1 wins over bottom-half teams Southampton and Aston Villa, and a 1-0 win over Newcastle late in the season) that demonstrate just how much of an impact Mane's departure, combined with Salah's slump in form, could have on this team.
They might replace Mane with Nkunku, a hardworking and clever forward who is capable of contributing 20+ goals per season for the next five years or so.
There's a lot to admire in Liverpool's economic practices, but a ruthless streak is required as soon as possible, or else this golden era will be remembered for how it ended.
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