It’s weird to be listening to a Dutch manager of football in 2019, let alone a former one with a win rate of 41.18%, but sometimes even Dutch managers speak the truth and Danny Blind has done it just this once. Per Danny Blind, Sadio Mané—with his speed, intelligence, and skills—is the new Ronaldo of football. Now, Blind was referring to the inferior Ronaldo (Cristiano) which seems foolish given Mané is so much better than him, so we’re going to spend this entire article pretending Blind is comparing the Liverpool forward to Ronaldo (The Original).

“Sadio Mané is the new Ronaldo in world football,” Blind told the Mirror this weekend. “As an attacking player he is absolutely fantastic. I can go through all his qualities – and he is superb in every aspect.”

‘He can score with his left foot, right foot, and with sensational headers,” Blind added, presumably taking himself up on his earlier offer to go through all of Mané’s qualities. “He can give brilliant assists, he is an incredible athlete. Mané is the super modern player. If you look at his skills, that is one great thing, but he is able to combine that with astonishing sprints right throughout the game.”

“That requires so much power. You have to be incredibly strong both physically and mentally. Sadio has it all. I don’t compare Mané to [Lionel] Messi. I think Sadio is much more like Ronaldo in his very best years.”

Isn’t that a lovely comparison to a childhood hero for so many of us? What a great comparison. We can only hope that Mané gets the recognition he deserves from everyone else in the footballing world, too.