Sadio Mane has left Southampton for Liverpool for a fee that breaks quite a few records and that most Saints supporters will find grossly more than his actual worth.

When a player leaves a club it is often the case that the supporters who formerly idolised him turn against him and claim he was never much good anyway.

That is not quite the case with Sadio Mane, undoubtedly on his day he was unplayable, but the problem was his actual "day's" were few and far between and usually crammed in during late April early May.

Indeed anyone looking at Mane's stats as they sat in the stands at St Mary's ahead of the game against his now new club Liverpool on the 20th March would have found it hard to believe that 3 months later he would be going to Anfield for a fee believed to be £34 million plus add ons that could make him Liverpool's record signing above Andy Carroll at £36 million.

On that day with only 8 Premier League games left he had only 3 PremierLeague goals to his name, the last one being ironically against Liverpool 5 months earlier.

Indeed there were those who would have said that on his form last season Saints would struggle to recoup the £10 million we paid for him in the summer of 2014.

Perhaps one factor in his massive transfer fee today is Manchester United, a year ago they leaked rumours they were interested in Mane to fend of criticism in losing out on Pedro to Chelsea, they had no intention of purchasing him, but the press took up the story and kept running it, Liverpool seemed to have taken note and there seems little evidence of why Liverpool have been prepared to pay this much apart from the fact that they might feel they are putting one over their rivals from along the M62.

It is hard to fathom the size of this fee, as mentioned it is almost Liverpool's club record and possibly will soon be, it is the biggest fee paid for an African player eclipsing the £28 million Manchester City paid for Wilfrid Bony two years ago, it dwarfs the amount neighbours Everton paid for Lukaku, both players scoring considerably more goals than Mane.

The only reason Liverpool can have paid this much is that they feel thet Jurgen Klopp can get Mane playing to his April form for the other 8 months of the season, they are certainly not buying a player with a proven consistent track record over a season.

This is not a disgruntled supporters dissing his former hero, this is an opinion based on hard fact and that fact is Mane is just not worth £34 million.

Saints supporters are chuckling here, I need to say it again £34 million for Mane, I would have said if we got £20 million we would have been getting a good deal, so this price is amazing and not one we could have turned down, if Mane is worth £34 million then Shane Long is worth £50 million.

This money reinvested well will allow us to do what we always do and that is strengthen the squad, it means Mane can be replaced with two quality players, who between them would get far more than 11 goals a season.

Good luck to Sadio Mane he will need it, this means that in two years we have had nearly £100 million from Liverpool and I think Liverpool fans would not be too impressed by what they have got for the £66 million shelled out so far, on the face of it the four players who went before all had better pedigree's than Mane, Liverpool are taking a big risk here.

Sadio Mane is an enigma, you just don't know what he is going to do, in the main it has been very little that has been inflated by that end of season burst, I hope we have banked the cheque in case Jurgen Klopp reads this.

Photo: Action Images

GeordieSaint added 15:23 - Jun 28 Isn't it usually the scousers who do the robbing? Hard to see how he fits in with their alleged high pressing tactic.
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saintsnutcase added 16:05 - Jun 28 Nick -- You are forgetting that transfer fees are taking a huge leap upwards with the new TV deals, as they have always done in the past when TV income rises. It will cost a heck of a lot to get anyone with Mane's talent and in his age group. And you always seem to under-estimate Mane. He will be a very big loss. However, I think he has left us in a decent way and I hope he does well.

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JDawg added 16:06 - Jun 28 £34m makes it just the bit easier to take. Also I'm glad it's Mane they took and not Shane Long. Now if we can hang onto Pelle and the rest of the squad as well as spending the money wisely I think we can say, for once, it has been a good summer of business!
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saintstuinoz added 16:35 - Jun 28 Good bit of business for us, and we can now hand the new manager a decent transfer kitty. Of course we'd rather have kept him, but if Scousehampton want to keep massively overpaying us for our players then why wouldn't we take it. It's strange that it hasn't dawned on them that if they keep signing players who got us to 8th, 7th and 6th that it's likely that is where they will end up finishing?! Meantime, we keep investing well and improving every year. Good luck Sadio and thanks for a few great moments - I hope you enjoy the money, the stardom and the lack of European football.

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BoondockSaint added 16:37 - Jun 28 We said 40 million and backed down as usual. Nick, stop downplaying every player who leaves and overrating Long. Watch his goal production go down because he doesn't have Mane to stretch the field or slot him a pass between two defenders. Nick I am still waiting for the players you claim we can just pick up and "build a team around"
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davepid added 16:41 - Jun 28 What add on are involved in order to take this to 36 million?
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halftimeorange added 16:50 - Jun 28 It's difficult to judge now whether getting rid of a young, potentially game-changing forward for £34M is good or bad business. It will seem to be a Cameronesque mistake if we languish in the bottom three by, say Christmas but, if adequate replacements can cover both the loss of Sadio and Victor then we won't be too bothered. Only time will tell but I think the club should show some intent and turn some of the "in" rumours into reality. We certainly don't want any others to leave. I honestly can't see us competing at more than mid-table in 2016/17. Eventually the merry-go-round that is Southampton will need more stability or a major overhaul in terms of player investment

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DPeps added 17:24 - Jun 28 I'll be sorry to see Mane go, as he's a very talented player and always worked hard even when things weren't going his way. Some fans say he had a bad attitude but I never saw that. This doesn't need to be a disaster, however, and on the face of it this could be a good bit of business. But, it'll only prove to be good business if we adequately replace. The Black Box needs a new lick of paint (or turning off and turning back on again) because most of the players we've bought since Paul Mitchell left have been pretty average so far, in my humble opinion. I also hope there's some point in our '5-year plan' when we starting retaining our best players and not selling to our rivals!

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SanMarco added 17:43 - Jun 28 At least 34-36 shows that we bargained - 40 was obviously a negotiating position. The papers I have glanced at are still reporting at 30 so perhaps the rest is based on England caps or something (!) Yes there definitely is a tendency to decide departing players are rubbish - human nature/sour grapes I suppose. The imponderable of course is future improvement. They've either bought a future great or a future transfer to West Brom, who knows...Still wish we'd kept him although I accept that 34 is a lot of cash - we must spend it well.

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IanRC added 18:06 - Jun 28 Mane was far from rubbish and always appeared to be trying hard from where I sat. Personally I still think this is a massive mistake be it £30 or £34 million. I guess I will have to wait to see if Mr Reed has sabotaged us properly this time. I would not hold out much hope of any points against Liverpool this season and if we do not make Europe next year and they do I will be well pi!!ed off.

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Sanguin added 18:11 - Jun 28 I agree with you Nick, this is a fantastic piece of business for Saints. I disagree with all the people who suggest you have inflated what a poor player he was, he was incredibly inconsistent. I would world rather have Berahino, Andros Townsend or Benteke and keep the change.
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Gizzle007 added 18:14 - Jun 28 He is a big loss but it's not the end the fact is he has never got used to the British winter and goes of the boil , he is replaceable and good bit of buisness for us,I read it could raise upto 38.5 in add ons, so good luck mane and we March on
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the_saint added 18:51 - Jun 28 I'm sorry to see him go but £34m that's a good deal for an inconsistent player, if he was as good as long or vvd that would hack me off. But he is not
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saintdavid added 22:54 - Jun 29 scouse cheapskates. For 40 million they could have had a chicken with a head.
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