- Sadio Mane has joined Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho as the latest member of Jurgen Klopp’s ultra-successful team to move to the Kingdom
In 2019, Liverpool were crowned kings of Europe after a thrilling run in the Champions League, culminating in that unforgettable 4-0 win over Barcelona and the 2-0 victory over Tottenham in the final.
The season after, the Reds walked away with the English Premier League, their first domestic championship in three decades. Then there was the FA Cup and League Cup wins in 2021-2022, as Liverpool fell agonizingly short of what would have been a historic quadruple.
Throw in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup triumph and the Liverpool team built by Jurgen Klopp literally won everything there was to win.
The players who were part of that golden period have become legends at Anfield.
Inevitably, such teams break up over time but few would have expected that by the summer of 2023, over a third of Klopp’s classic starting lineup are now preparing to start their first season in Saudi Arabia.
The first to come was the out-of-contract Roberto Firmino. The Brazilian has signed for Al-Ahli. Then there was Jordan Henderson answering the call from Ettifaq’s new head coach Steven Gerrard and soon there was another midfielder in Fabinho joining champions Al-Ittihad. The most recent arrival is Sadio Mane who has left Bayern Munich for Al-Nassr.
While there have been signings from Chelsea in recent weeks with Kalidou Koulibaly, N’Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy coming south, the former Red quartet were hugely influential players in their time at Anfield and crucial for Klopp’s revolution.
Firmino was one of the front three who, along with Mohamed Salah and Mane, took Liverpool to a new level. The Brazilian made and scored goals and also made things happen. He is also the kind of professional that Klopp loves to surround himself with, a star player who puts the team first and the 31-year-old should be a standout in Jeddah too.
Perhaps the most surprising move was Henderson’s. Firmino had become a free agent and all knew that he would be seeking pastures new, but the English midfielder was the team’s captain as they were about to start pre-season preparations and there was no hint whatsoever that the 33-year-old was about to leave. It is not only his skills, but also vast experience and leadership qualities, that Ettifaq and Gerrard will benefit from and what Liverpool will miss.
These have been done and dusted for a while but there has been activity this week. On Monday, Fabinho was there, holding up that famous Ittihad shirt. It could be argued that when the Brazilian arrived at Liverpool in May 2018, he signaled the start of a golden era for the club. He was imperious in that 4-0 semifinal second-leg win against Barcelona four years ago as Liverpool closed in on a first continental title since 2005.
Interestingly, 2005 was the last time that Al-Ittihad became champions of Asia, and now they have the Brazilian midfielder in their ranks that wait may be over. Fabinho has been operating at the top of the world game for years and now he joins a team that is already looking very strong indeed.
The champions had already added Karim Benzema, Kante and Jota to their ranks since winning the Saudi league in May and now coach Nuno Santo has added Fabinho to a squad bursting with talent. If the midfielder can make the same kind of memories in Jeddah as he did in Liverpool — also a port city — then fans of the Tigers are in for a treat.
In 2019, Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders paid tribute to the star.
“Inside the ‘organized chaos’ that we want, that we like, he is like a lighthouse. He controls it and, for me, you can still have the style of the gaffer and how we want to identify ourselves.”
It was also noted that Klopp nicknamed Fabinho “Dyson” for his clean-up capabilities but there is much more to his game than that as fans in Saudi Arabia will surely find out.
The signing of Mane from Bayern, however, could just be the biggest of the lot.
He was part of that all-conquering attack with Firmino. He is simply a megastar in his homeland of Senegal, led the team to the Africa Cup of Nations title last year and was also a major figure as they qualified for the World Cup, though injury meant that he missed the tournament.
It also meant that his only season at Bayern Munich — he joined the German giants last summer — was not what it could have been. Pre-injury, Mane was excellent, though upon returning after the tournament, struggled to match that early season form.
Class is permanent, however, and that is what Al-Nassr fans will hope to see from Mane as he joins Cristiano Ronaldo, Anderson Talisca, Seko Fofana, Marcelo Brozovic and Alex Telles in Riyadh.
It is enough to get fans from all over the world watching, but it could well be that Klopp and the millions of Liverpool fans are touched by nostalgia more than most.
