Once there was a boy in Sédhiou, a small town in Senegal who didn’t even have boots to play. He hailed from a poor family. His family didn’t want him to play football and yet here he is. All he had was the grit and determination to become a footballer. Fast forward some years, here he is in England, gracing the famous Red of the KOP. Scoring goals, influencing games and imitating celebrations and becoming the fan favorite. Yes, he is Sadio Mane! The Senegalese King of Anfield.

FC Metz was the club which brought him to Europe. After that, he didn’t have to look back. He then journeyed into Austria with Red Bull Salzburg and then to Southampton. It was his incredible performances at the St. Mary’s that caught the eye of Jurgen Klopp. Klopp then said. “He is the man I need, bring him to me no matter how costly it would be”. £34 million was it all that took to bring him to Anfield. For Liverpool, when they look back at it today, it is an excellent investment. There were some murmurings here and there that Sadio was not worth the £34 million paid. Fast forwarding to the present and looking into the future, the Senegal man was worth every penny.

I have put together a chart which describes how Sadio Mane has contributed towards the Project that Jurgen Klopp is building at Anfield. The chart compares how Mane’s figures worked out in the past three seasons.

The “Data” story of Sadio Mane

2016/17: The first season, a trailer of the beast

Is there any better way to announce your arrival than the way Mane did it? To score a solo wonder goal against Arsenal at the Emirates stadium. It was just a trailer of what to expect from Mane. He has this habit of delivering when needed at the big stage.

Mane’s first season was a blockbuster. He took the role of the Superstar of the team and was an irreplaceable addition to the team. His importance to the team was highlighted when Mane went to play the Africa Cup of nations and when he was out with Injury.

Sadio Mane made 27 appearances in which he scored 13 goals and 5 assists in the Premier League. From the graph above it is pretty much evident that Mane prefers his right foot as he scored 9 of 13 goals with the right foot and 3 with his left. One goal came from a header. He created 4 Big Chances in the League and missed 3 big chances.

The number above is not all bad and was the best in the Red’s colors that season. Rightly so, Sadio Mane was awarded the Liverpool’s player of the Season.

2017/18: The Silence

Out of the three seasons Mane played for Liverpool, the 2017/18 was the least fruitful one. One reason for that may be the extraordinary rise of Mohamed Salah. Salah was extraordinary for Liverpool so that Mane didn’t have much left to do.

In his second season at Anfield, Mane made 29 appearances for Liverpool during which he scored 10 goals and assisted 7. The number of goals went down while the assist count rose. The most worrying stat of all was the number of big chances he missed. Sadio Mane missed 12 big chances.

Yet again the data tell the same story. Mane prefers his right foot as he scored 7 of his 10 goals with the right foot and 3 with his left foot. This time no headers!

The major takeaway from the season was the number of big chances created: Mane created 9 big chances in his second season when compared to 4 in his first season.

2018/19*: The Resurgence

Yet again, Sadio Mane has stepped up to the challenge when the team needed him the most. After an extraordinary season by Mo Salah, expectations were high on the Egyptian to deliver again. It was nearly impossible to replicate the form, and as expected Salah showed signs of slowing down. It was the man from Senegal who helped the Egyptian to carry Liverpool on their shoulders. (Attacking perspective. I seriously believe Van Dijk is the most important player in the Liverpool squad at the moment!)

This season, Mane has shattered all his previous records. In the 31 games he has played till now, Mane has scored 17 goals and assisted 1. 17 goals is a terrific output and he is well in contention for the EPL Golden boot. Don’t worry about the number of assists. He is making up for it by scoring crucial goals. Yet again he favors his right foot as he scored 10 goals with his right foot, 5 goals with his left foot and 2 goals with his head.

This season, he has scored some crucial goals and is a menacing threat to the opposition. Consider the graph below, the list compares the Goals per match ratio of the three seasons Sadio Mane played for Liverpool.

As discussed above, Sadio Mane is in the form of his life this season. This season he boasts a goal per game ratio of 0.55, while in the 2017/18 and the 2016/17 he boasted goal scoring ratios of 0.34 and 0.48 respectively.

The goals per match ratio

Over his tenure in the colors of Liverpool, Mane has been often criticized for his wastefulness in front of goal. There were occasions in which Mane wasted chances to convert into goals. Check the below graph, which depicts how Mane has improved his shooting skills.

The shooting story

This season Mane has shown considerable improvement in his composure in front of goal. He boasts a good shooting accuracy of 47%. In the 2017/18, the graph went a little low as the accuracy was just 37%. The stat was much better in his first season at Anfield: 42%.

From having no boots to play football to gracing the grass of Anfield, this is one truly inspirational story!

Conclusion

The Senegal superstar is in the form of his life now and is keeping on improving. Now 27, Mane is in his prime and will get even better in the coming seasons if he can keep up the work rate. With Mane, Salah and Firmino showing no signs of Stopping, Liverpool can finally end their trophy drought.