Why Liverpool see Martin Terrier as perfect Sadio Mane replacement

FT Desk

• Updated: 1 Jun 2022 15:17 BST
• 3 min read

Liverpool have lined up Rennes winger Martin Terrier as the perfect replacement for Sadio Mane, should the Senegalese leave for Bayern Munich.

Mane is out of contract at Anfield at the end of next season and the club had hoped to agree fresh terms with the 30-year-old forward.

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However, Bayern Munich have made a play for Mane set against the prospect of losing top goalscorer Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona, and it seems increasingly likely the German champions will get their man, with a transfer fee between the clubs all that's left to be agreed.

Should Mane leave Liverpool, he will do so as a player who has contributed 120 goals and 48 assists in 269 games in all competitions, picking up Premier League and Champions League crowns along the way.

Mane arrived from Southampton as a right winger, switched to the left when Mo Salah followed him to Anfield from Roma in 2017, and this season led the line for much of the campaign.

A generous contributor to his native Senegal, building schools and hospitals in the Sedhiou region, Mane the person and player will be missed, but in Terrier, Liverpool have identified a potential signing who may at least be able to replace both Mane's versatility and attacking output.

Rennes were one of the surprise packages in Ligue 1 in the season just finished, occupying the French domestic podium for 12 weeks of the campaign and eventually settling for a fourth-placed finish which guarantees Europa League group stage football next term.

How good is Terrier?

Terrier was comfortably their best player, scoring 21 league goals and contributing four assists at a rate of one every 112 minutes he played. All but one of those strikes were converted from open play.

Reassuringly for Reds fans, Terrier spent much of this campaign on the left-hand side of Rennes' attack, the Bretons invariably lining up in the same 4-3-3 system Jurgen Klopp uses at Liverpool.

But he has been used all across their attack, making him a real asset for the Liverpool squad, able to combine with any of Salah, Luis Diaz, Jota and Roberto Firmino, depending on others' form and fitness.

Terrier could also come in at a reasonable price. Whilst surely worth more than the €11.7m Rennes spent on acquiring him from Lyon in 2020, he remains uncapped and if Liverpool move quickly they should get him at a fraction of the fee they would receive for Mane.