Former Liverpool player Don Hutchison has said that fans will be 'devastated' if Sadio Mane leaves the club but have the players to replace him.
Mane is wanted by German champions Bayern Munich and have already bid twice for the Senegal star, both offers rejected outright by the Reds. The ECHO understands the Reds are expecting Bayern to lodge a third, improved bid for Mane as they hold out for nearer £42.75million for the Senegalese international.
Should the two clubs come to an agreement and the 30-year-old departs Anfield, Hutchison believes that supporters will miss him dearly but the January addition of Luis Diaz and summer signing of Darwin Nunez from Benfica will excite fans and make up for Mane's departure.
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“I think he is outrageously underrated,” said Hutchison on Radio 5 Live Sport. “I think he has been a superb player, on and off the pitch.
“What he has done for his country as well. I think it’s amazing. Winning the AFCON’s and taking Senegal to the World Cup.
“He will be a loss. But I think what Liverpool see in Luis Diaz is that they see him playing on that left-hand side instead of Sadio Mane. Then, Darwin Nunez going through the middle and Mo Salah on the right-hand side.
“It’s one of them where Liverpool fans will be devastated that they have lost Sadio Mane. It’s a little bit of a contradiction because I am gutted for them as well. But, at the same time, Luis Diaz excited me last season like you wouldn’t believe.”
