Southampton could be a lot keener in cashing in on Sadio Mane than they would care to admit as rumours of a move to Liverpool get stronger.

On paper Sadio Mane has a reasonable set of statistics for Saints, however analysis of those statistics aligned with having watched the player in most of his games would suggest a different story.

Both of Mane's seasons at Saints have seen him go through long periods where he did not score wit only a late hat trick near the end of the season making his goal scoring figures look reasonable.

That was the case last season where his 11 goal in 30(7) looked a good figure, however he went over five months without scoring in the Premier League, a period that ncluded a lot more indifferent games than ones where he truly looked quality.

That goal scoring figure was, like the season before boosted with a late flourish, 6 goals came in the last 5 games, indeed 8 in the last 8 and although that ultimately pushed Saints into 6th spot, the feeling was that they could have achieved that or higher a lot earlier had Mane scored regularly between October and March when he went five months without a goal.

Therefore it seems Saints know the value of Mane to the team and if they can prise over £30 million from someone for Mane that will be good business.

Manchester United were never interested and even less so now Jose Mourinho is in charge at Old Trafford, but it seems Liverpool are and Saints are rumoured to be interested in a deal at the prices being quoted.

Some reports say the two clubs are already in talks, although that may be a little premature.

Saints strategy these days is that every player has a price and the same of Mane along with the £16 million or so already brought in from the departures of Koeman and Wanyama would give us a great transfer kitty, that would mean that again we could replace those two players with not only two of equal stature, but perhaps some change left over to strengthen the squad in other areas.

Ths is the Southampton way, we cannot compete with the spending power both in transfer fees and wages of at least 6 clubs in the Premier League, possibly 8 if you add Everton and West Ham, but we have shown that by taking a different strategy that just throwing money at every problem that we can compete and be successful.

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BarnetSaint added 15:49 - Jun 25 I agree with the majority on this one. This endless sale of our better players stinks of a lack of ambition by the board and KL. Dont see an exodus from leicester players. Sooner or later this policy will cost us, redmond is an ok prem player, Mane a game changer. £30 M sounds a lot but everton would ensure they achieved twice that for lukaku
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StRipper added 23:35 - Jun 25 I absolutely would like Mane to stay, I don't really have a bad did to say about him. I've seen no indication at all he has an attitude problem either. Anyway, looking to the future. I guess he is a prized asset, but if he's been offered a new contract and not signed it, we have a problem. Losing £10m on Wanyama could be accepted. It would be foolish to potentially lose £25m buy being pressed to let a £40m+ player go for about £15m when he only has a year left on his contract? I think if Liverpool are the only interested party, so give us at least £35m and say a 20% sell on clause, then it would make sense to sell. I'm sure we have our eye on a suitably excellent replacement. I think Mane is a wonder player and could play at the very top. So may not stay at Liverpool long 😀 Also, it could be argued that Liverpool are no longer seen as a direct rival to Saints. We have surpassed them. They aren't a top 6 side or in Europe, so on what contemporary measure could we be worried about them? Every other transfer from us to them has not stopped their decline, so I suspect Saints know enough about Mane to know whether he is a player capable of changing that pattern. Cough up Liverpool! We need to strengthen our squad for Champions League push and tilt at the Europa Cup. UTS

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BoondockSaint added 01:38 - Jun 26 If his goals won 3-4 games last year, that will start us with -10 and the Scouse (who I loathe) +10. The off the pitch game is sign players to help you, keep them from your competitors and weaken your competitors by taking their good players. Obviously Les hasn't figured this out. Maybe the reason top managers are turning us down is during the interview they are told we are selling Mane and they get up an walk out muttering under their breathe, "What a bunch of idiots!"

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SaintBrock added 12:53 - Jun 26 Nick, you are really good at seeing the best in every situation but as you can judge for yourself by the majority of very sensible replies to your post, few ever agree with you. Which is I suppose a tribute to a skill you have of generating controversial debate. I do not like at all what's happening at SMS these days and the rising power of Les Reed in all things football. Does Rogers not see what is happening or is he merely an appointee "yes" man? RK seems only half engaged on Saints matters and the owner clearly has been kept so far distant from day-to-day operations that she probably hasn't a clue about anything other than the latest balance sheet. Sound familiar? She fell into this trap once before with a slick operator named Nicola Cortese. The world is not run by nice, open-hearted, decent people with everyone's best interests at heart. Most people at the top are money grubbing, small minded ruthless operators with self-interest their main objective. The Southampton Way is a myth, a slogan to keep the peasants happy and subservient and those who instigate these fictions rely on 99% of their audience taking them at their word and never drill down to find out of their is substance to the rhetoric... and, of course 97% don't know how to or can't be bothered. Reed is running football here, hence Lee & Watson and why we sign the likes of Redmond with a manager in absentia and sell core spine players whom we should be keeping at all odds. Just the presence on the pitch of Sadio Mane must terrify opposition defences and whenever he has the ball gaps open up elsewhere as two defenders rush to cover him. His goals are a bonus but despite any criticism of consistency he is still one of our highest scorers and would probably have netted a lot more if Koeman hadn't been so impatient and unsympathetic. To sell Sadio now on top of all the other upheavals this summer will confirm that the lunatics have effected a coup. Time methinks for Katherina to take another closer link unless she really doesn't care and is only bothered about the bottom line of her profit & Loss account.

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SaintBrock added 12:56 - Jun 26 apologies for all the annoying typos but I am fed up with correcting the auto-correct every two minutes
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SanMarco added 16:11 - Jun 26 Actually SaintBrock I think Nick's 'editorial line' is an important counter-balance to the anger/despair/upset that the great majority of us feel during these long summers of rumour and subsequent departure. I, on the whole, respect the general direction the club is going in and I fear the consequences of the Cortese faction's 'ambition' and risk. So without agreeing with particular manifestations of it (let's sell Mane being a good example) I do take comfort from the optimistic/see the good in every development line AND, let's be honest, however it has happened he has been vindicated by last 2 seasons' league position.

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TeamCortese added 18:28 - Jun 26 SanMarco: There's nothing wrong with being positive and providing a different outlook. However, before you can come to such assessments you need to have all the facts laid out in front of you. The Southampton Board haven't done that and that's what's disappointing. Yes we have come far in the last 6 years with consecutive improvements but it's easy to spot a pattern has been established and it starting to diminish pride and morale of our supporters. We need to have more respect from players and managers by making it clear we're not a stepping stone and that they should be proud to represent us rather than jumping ship at the first call. From what I've seen that hasn't been addressed (especially with key players) and the board are central to that changing. I think at the very minimum the board need to be more transparent with the supporters.

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IanRC added 23:09 - Jun 26 If reports of selling for £30 million are true after putting £40 million price on his head are correct then I may be forced to move to the Reed must go camp, a pathetic bit of business. Get a grip Ralph
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SanMarco added 23:21 - Jun 26 Good points TeamCortese and the higher we get the further we have to fall if the board does get it wrong/run out of luck. I just like Nick's optimism because it tempers my own natural pessimism a little bit - and, as I say, he's been fairly correct so far.
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