Edouard Mendy has warned Liverpool that they could regret letting Sadio Mane leave for Bayern Munich this summer.
Mane completed his move to the German champions earlier in this window, for a fee believed to be in the region of £35 million.
The Senegalese international had just 12 months left on his deal at Anfield, so the club made a decision to move the 30-year-old on, rather than losing him for free in 2023.
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With Bayern expecting Robert Lewandowski to leave the club for Barcelona, targeting Mane made sense, and the player was open to a new challenge in the Bundesliga.
Chelsea goalkeeper Mendy, who is an international team-mate of Mane’s, believes that this sale was a mistake and that the Reds may live to regret the decision.
“I think it is a big loss for the Premier League in terms of quality and in terms of the person,” the shot-stopper said.
“We’ve lost something great and I hope for him he will enjoy the Bundesliga.
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“He’s a big loss because of his quality, the impact he makes and also because, for the young players, he’s an example."
"When you lose someone like this it can have a huge impact.”
Liverpool moved quickly to replace Mane, bringing in Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez from Benfica in a deal worth potentially up to £85 million.
Nunez has been branded as one of Europe’s hottest young strikers, netting 34 times in 41 appearances for the Portuguese giants last season.
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The deal for the 23-year-old coincided with the Merseyside club’s title rivals Manchester City’s marquee summer signing in Erling Haaland.
Mendy was also asked about the former Dortmund man, and bizarrely compared him to Liverpool transfer flop Christian Benteke.
“I study. I study a lot. It’s not about one striker or one team- we just have to focus on every striker, every team we play to win,” he said about his own preparations. “It’s not because it’s Haaland.
“I look at Haaland like I look at, say, Benteke at Palace- it’s not that different between Crystal Palace and City. You have to be focused because he is a striker and he can score.
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“So I study. I study. We have our methods and I don’t need to say what they are. But I study a lot. A lot.”
Topics: Edouard Mendy, Liverpool
Chris Stonadge