Liverpool confirm Sadio Mané signing

Sadio Mane Southampton Liverpool

Liverpool have completed the signing of Southampton forward, Sadio Mané for £34m.

Mané becomes Liverpool’s third summer signing, following the acquisitions of German goalkeeper Lorius Karius and Cameroon defender Joel Matip.

The fee for the 24-year-old could yet rise to £36m, which would make him the most expensive Liverpool signing ever, overtaking the 35m paid to Newcastle for Andy Carroll in 2011.

The Senegalese is the fifth player to join Liverpool from Southampton since 2014, joining Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Nathaniel Clyne in swapping the South Coast for Merseyside.

Having arrived at Southampton from Red Bull Salzburg, in 2014, Mané managed score 21 goals in 67 Premier League appearances for the Saints.

Speaking to the clubs official website, Mane expressed his delight at having signed for a major Premier League club. “Today is a big day and I am happy to sign for one of the biggest clubs in Europe,” he said.

“It’s a club that has won a lot of trophies and has a big history.”

Mane becomes the latest high-profile departure from Saint Mary’s, adding to fears that the club may experience an exodus, similar to that of 2014, when five senior players left, alongside manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Already this month, the club has seen Victor Wanyama join Tottenham in a deal worth 11m and have had to cope with losing their manager, Ronald Koeman, who less than fortnight ago signed a four-year deal with Everton.

Luckily for Saints supporters, work is being done to mitigate the impact of these departures.

After the signing of Nathan Redmond from Norwich, the club appear to be drawing closer to finding a new manager. Reports suggest that former Nice manager, Claude Puel is the favourite to fill the vacant managers position.

By Matt

Matt is the owner and chief-editor of the Footy Blog, one of the UK's leading football news blogs.