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Sadio Mané is world class.

This is not an outrageous statement in its own right. Of course he is. He has been a driving force in Liverpool reaching two Champions League finals – scoring in one, and winning the other – as well as finishing with the most goals (alongside Mohamed Salah and Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang) in the Premier League last season. From a wide position.

The term 'world-class' is up for interpretation as much as a Picasso painting, however. Ask ten different people about how to define world class, and 11 different answers will come back. Some are strict on their ruling, others extremely liberal. Some say it's Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, others invite about 30 others to the party.

But Sadio Mané is world class.

Personally, world class is not something that can be defined. It does not reside in a dictionary definition, but in the depths of instinct. Whether it's a goal, a player, or a team, there is that immediate moment when you know. You know you know. It belongs to a special bracket, however it is compartmentalised.

And Sadio Mané is world class.

His running, so direct and forceful, so unstoppable, is world class. There is a special trick Mané produces when he receives the ball on the left side of the field; it is special because it is obvious and, yet, there is absolutely nothing which can be done. He slows down, he speeds up, he moves the ball past the defender, he skips away free. More inevitable than Thanos, and quicker than a snap of the fingers.

(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

His explosiveness and alertness, both to space and loose balls, is world class. It is what allows him to reach the 22 league goals he did, 59 in his three years at Anfield, and several in the Champions League.

Think about how a man lacking height scored six headed goals last year, happening not because he is taller than the defender but because he is quicker and smarter; think about that glorious prod into the Goodison Park net, to launch a sole red smoke bomb into the December air in 2016, and how he was simply more alert than the opposition. He did similar against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in Europe too.

Then, there is the impact he has had on Liverpool. No signing has been more transformative in the past five years. The cries of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker will follow, but both joined a team already in the Champions League. Mané arrived in the summer of 2016 a club who had finished top four in one of the previous six years.

Jürgen Klopp entered his first summer knowing his best chance of closing the gap from eighth (behind West Ham and Southampton) to fourth was with a revamped attack in his design. At £30million ($37.2million), Mané represented a real gamble, and was a player who had spent part of the previous campaign benched by Southampton, with coach Ronald Koeman on his back over effort and enterprise. He would announce himself to Liverpool, at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal, by jumping on Klopp's back himself.

(Image: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Van Dijk and Alisson moved Liverpool up a level, no doubt; it was Mané who, in 2016/17, ensured there was an initial level to begin with.

All of this means Sadio Mané is world class. For those who want science and subjection, and are more analytical in their thoughts, consider the season he has just had.

His 22 league goals were more than Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero; given none of those were penalty kicks, his 0.61 non-penalty goals (per 90 minutes) bettered Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar. His six headed goals were more than Ronaldo, a notorious force in the air, while his 25.9% shot conversion rate beat both Aubameyang and Messi. His penetration was also more successful and frequent than Kylian Mbappe, with Mané managing 2.38 progressive runs (per 90 minutes).

Those are impressive figures, and impressive names to be beating in some key attacking metrics. There may not be a more underrated attacker in world soccer, and that will continue.

But there can no longer be any debate: Sadio Mané is world class.