Sadio Mane to Liverpool: What if it was a trade, not a transfer?

What if Sadio Mane to Liverpool was a transaction made akin to American sports rules? What if Liverpool had to give Southampton players, not money?

With the transfer window closed and the biggest moves of the year now in the rear view, the deals will continue to be dissected down to granular analysis. But what if it wasn’t a transfer, what if it was a trade? In American sports, clubs cannot purchase a player from another team: they have to agree to trade players (or draft picks) to acquire players they want. In that light, we’ll look at the biggest transfers that went down this summer and see how they could be different in this fictional reality. For this edition, what if Sadio Mane was traded to Liverpool rather than purchased?

It shocked no one when news broke that Liverpool were in for another Southampton player. Was Brendan Rodgers still pulling the transfer strings from Scotland?

In years prior it’d been Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert and Dejan Lovren and Nathaniel Clyne yet now Mane, a player Liverpool turned down the chance to sign for under £10million from Red Bull Salzburg before Southampton pulled the trigger on that deal.

This summer it was Sadio Mane.

Now Mane is at Liverpool and has been a revelation. Any consternation that he wouldn’t be able to land well at the new club or the apparent jump in level has been alleviated thoroughly. He’s been one of the Reds’ best players over the first month of the season, being worst every penny of the deal that could rise to £36million if the add-ons are met.

But what if Liverpool had to compensate Southampton with players, not money? Here’s how that deal still may have been able to be realized.

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 14: Sadio Mane of Liverpool in action during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Liverpool at Emirates Stadium on August 14, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Liverpool receives: Sadio Mane

Southampton receives: Joe Allen, Danny Ings + one academy player to be named later

Quickly for the unaware: “player to be named later” is a phrase most common in baseball, where the team will get a (typically) minor league level player of their choice. Plus, without there being a draft in England, “one academy player to be named later” is meant to replace the draft pick, because a club like Southampton highly values a young player with potential.

Second disclaimer: Mane to Liverpool happened before Allen to Stoke City, so, that’s the fictional world we’re living in.

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Okay. Into the trade (finally).

A general gauge for fairness here is that Mane was sold for a bit north of £30million (before add ons), Allen was exported to Stoke for £13million and Tony Barrett reports that Liverpool fancy Ings at £20million (however debatable that figure may be) renders the money roughly the same.

Plus Southampton were in the process of losing striker Graziano Pelle to China this summer thus Ings would be an attractive replacement.

To sweeten the deal, Liverpool would have to throw in a young asset. One that could be incubated and nurtured at Southampton before following the path that many-a-player at the South Coast club has traveled: the exit door for more than what they were brought in for.

From a Liverpudlian view-point, they get Mane and only lose two rotational players and another player of Southampton’s choosing that’s probably 16 right now.

As much hope as we may feel any academy star may have, remember how bright a star Jordon Ibe looked just a year ago. Or any of the other countless grads who haven’t made the grade. For every Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling, there’s 100 Jay Spearing’s.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 04: Danny Ings of Liverpool celebrates after scoring a goal to make it 0-1 during the Barclays Premier League match between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park on October 04, 2015 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)

For Southampton, as previously mentioned, they lost Pelle this summer to China because they would’ve been absolutely silly to reject such a bloated bid. Ings isn’t a back-to-the-goal striker like Pelle is, but he’s an accomplished finisher and would form a relentless front two if paired with Shane Long.

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Ings’ work rate is something a manager dreams of. He hasn’t been able to force Klopp’s hand for the young season yet, but he’s not someone who would cripple Liverpool if he were to leave. Though Klopp is a fan, he’s expendable at this juncture. Especially to get someone like Mane who’s fit so well in the team.

On top of Ings, the Southampton first team would get a boost by the inclusion of Allen. Welsh Xavi would go straight into the team and his combination of industry and technical ability would slot seamlessly into Southampton.

Lastly, they get the opportunity of churning out another young player to be sold with the academy player to be named later. They’ve flipped the likes of Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Callum Chambers and Luke Shaw, amongst others, from the academy for profit. I wouldn’t be against them taking whoever they pluck out of the Liverpool academy and giving him the best chance to grow.