The message was clear from Liverpool supporters as Jurgen Klopp's side paraded through the city on an open-top bus last May.
Reports emerged the morning after the Reds' Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid that Sadio Mane had decided to leave after six years spent on Merseyside. Much of the talk in the weeks leading up to the showpiece fixture in Paris had centred around Mohamed Salah's future, so such news certainly took many by surprise.
Lining the streets to celebrate the two trophies claimed by the first-team in 2021/22, Mane was the talking point for many in attendance. It quickly became evident few wanted the Senegalese star to depart, emphasised by a 'Mane don't go' cardboard cutout held aloft by one fan.
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His exit was confirmed in the coming weeks as a move to Bayern Munich was sealed, and there were positive signs early on in the opening stages of his career with the German giants. A debut goal against RB Leipzig was followed up by three goals in his first Champions League matches and six strikes in 12 Bundesliga starts. Progress being made was soon stunted by a leg injury sustained in a 6-1 win over Werder Bremen, ruling him out of the World Cup and for a period lasting close to four months.
Mane has struggled to recapture the form shown in the early stages of the season since returning to the starting 11 and has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons of late after an altercation with team-mate Leroy Sane. Striking the ex-Manchester City man in the lip after Bayern's Champions League quarter-final first leg loss at Manchester City, it emerged there was a coming together between the pair in the dressing room after the full-time whistle. This incident resulted in the 31-year-old receiving a fine, being left out the matchday squad for their recent game with Hoffenheim and now reportedly made available for sale this summer.
The situation in which Mane finds himself is sad to see, for the vast majority of Liverpool fans will have wished to see a player who played such a key role in the Reds' revival succeed in his next chapter. He is not the only former player to have struggled since exiting the club in the summer, however.
Divock Origi may well have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League with AC Milan, though the Liverpool cult hero has been anything but integral to their European success. The Belgian, whose move away from Merseyside was viewed as an opportunity for him to become a central figure elsewhere, has been limited to only eight Serie A starts and has scored on two occasions. It is a similar story for Takumi Minamino at Monaco, who has been limited to the same second-string role experienced at Anfield. An unused substitute for 11 of his side's previous Ligue 1 outings tells the story of how his season has gone, predominantly limited to a handful of minutes from the bench.
One player who has bucked this trend by seeing his playing time increase is Neco Williams, turning out 34 times in all competitions during his maiden campaign with Nottingham Forest, but there is no escaping it has been a challenging time from a collective standpoint as the Premier League newcomers desperately battle to remain in the top flight.
Cast your mind back to the summer of 2021 and those who secured permanent exits, too, suffered a similar fate. Gini Wijnaldum called time on his successful spell with the Reds to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer, though it quickly became clear the Dutchman was not viewed as an vital member of the squad. Competing with the vast number of midfield options at the club took its toll, with Wijnaldum publicly expressing his frustration over his treatment. Loaned to AS Roma at the start of this term, PSG even gave the Italian side the option to buy the 32-year-old on a full-time basis.
Also sent packing from his new home no sooner after arriving was Xherdan Shaqiri, who penned a three-year contract at Lyon before being shipped off to MLS outfit Chicago Fire six months after signing. The Swiss star has impressed in the United States, though this was to be expected given his footballing pedigree and standard of football in the United States.
Only Harry Wilson and Taiwo Awoniyi, who joined Fulham and Union Berlin respectively, can be considered individuals who have reaped the rewards of leaving Liverpool in recent times. Both players are now in the Premier League, Awoniyi earning a move to Nottingham Forest on the back of a 20-goal season while Wilson was key to the Cottagers' Championship title triumph.
The year of 2018, perhaps, offered the clearest warning of how moving on from Liverpool won't always work out in the way first envisaged. Philippe Coutinho got his wish to become a Barcelona player during the January transfer window of 2017/18, having previously handed in a transfer request in the summer. Now at Aston Villa, Coutinho's career trajectory since his £142million switch is nothing short of remarkable.
Emre Can, meanwhile, lasted one full season at Juventus before being left out of the club's Champions League squad the following term by new manager Maurizio Sarri. It wasn't long before the German was loaned to Borussia Dortmund, a club at which he is now settled and has drawn plaudits for his performances.
What comes next for Mane is anyone's guess, as demonstrated by the mixed success of those listed above, but there is no doubting he has the quality to bounce back at Bayern - or elsewhere.
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