Jurgen Klopp has filled void left by Sadio Mane at Liverpool but there's a catch

When the news broke that Sadio Mane would be leaving Liverpool this summer, there was a sense of both excitement and fear.

Mane had been a mainstay in the team since his move from Southampton in 2016, and was a key reason behind the club’s success. If you were to look back at the six major trophies won in Jurgen Klopp’s tenure, Mane had a big say in all of them in some way.

In hindsight, you could possibly see the writing on the wall when Liverpool signed Luis Diaz in January. Although a more out-and-out winger than Mane, there are definitely similarities between the pair’s respective skill sets.

The second half of last season saw Klopp try to include both players in his starting line-up. It worked to a large degree, mounting a strong Premier League title challenge and reaching the Champions League final.

Mane was used as a centre-forward more often than not, while Diaz operated in the left-wing position that the Senegalese had made his own in years previously. Opening weekend, though, saw a new era officially begin for the Reds.

With Mane now a Bayern Munich player, Diaz is now the senior left winger at the club. Last Saturday was his first opportunity to show everyone what he could bring to the new-look forward line.

In terms of the result, it wasn’t a good one. A 2-2 draw on the opening day was the first time that Liverpool have dropped points in their first league fixture of a season since 2017.

Diaz failed to score, but that is not the only way to measure the performance of a forward in Klopp’s team. It’s about his work rate, his pressing and his ability to create chances for his team-mates.

If you were to start directly comparing Diaz to Mane then the Colombia international would not come out too favourably on some