Why Senegal hero Sadio Mane is a Liverpool legend as well

Sadio Mane has spent years in Mohamed Salah's shadow at Liverpool, but he is a true superstar in his own right when it comes to the international football scene, as he has demonstrated in recent months.

Sadio Mane has had no time to reflect on his most recent deed of national heroism - qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The Liverpool star was back in familiar surroundings at Liverpool just over 36 hours after his penalty secured Senegal's place in the World Cup finals.

He was seen reporting for work at the AXA Training Center in Kirkby and ready to get stuck into the final two months of what could yet turn out to be a historic, trophy-filled season. There will be an extra spring in his step

By comparison, Salah returned to Merseyside on Wednesday distraught after watching his country fall agonizingly short on the big stage once more.

Sadio Mane, who followed up his winning spot-kick in the Afcon final in February with another in Dakar on Tuesday, has no such worries. Two chances at glory, both taken, both at the cost of defering Salah's dreams with Egypt.

Sadio Mane is a true Liverpool legend

Sadio Mane during Leicester City v Liverpool - Premier League

The 29-year-old's legendary position in Senegal is already assured, and the same should be true at Liverpool.

He has put in six seasons of outstanding performances, playing a major role as Jurgen Klopp's team has taken on and conquered the world.

Sadio Mane, along with Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Jordan Henderson, and others, should be front and center when the tale of this era at Anfield is told.

Make no mistake: his contribution to Liverpool's victory was as significant as anyone's in the team.

In many ways, he was the first big piece of the jigsaw. Klopp's first 'transformative' signing, a £35 million ($46 million) bet that turned out to be one of the club's best buys.

Only 14 players have ever scored more goals for Liverpool than Sadio Mane.

Mane currently has 111 goals, which puts him ahead of John Barnes, Kevin Keegan, John Toshack, and Luis Suarez on the all-time list. He only needs seven more to pass Ian St John.

There's a good chance he'll get there before May, with potentially 16 games remaining this season.

However, at the time, he will be approaching the final year of his contract, and there is currently no indication that an extension will be agreed.

Mane would undoubtedly be missed if he were to depart.

Despite the natural excitement around new addition Luis Diaz, and despite the fact that Diogo Jota's goals have proven critical, Mane is still a world-class player.

Sadio Mane is a world-class talent with near-unreplaceable physicality, speed, variety, and skill. There aren't many people that can do what he does on a consistent basis.

He is still needed by Liverpool, and they would be wise to keep him at Anfield beyond 2023.

Mane finished fourth in the 2019 poll, ahead of Salah and only behind Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk, and Cristiano Ronaldo - showing how great he can be when he is effective.

He was also in the top 30 in 2017 and 2018, and has been chosen three times for the PFA Team of the Year.

Liverpool fans were treated to a new, colorful painting just a few hundred yards from Anfield on Wednesday. Salah’s arms were raised in his iconic ecstatic gesture and was voted for by supporters. The Egyptian King, standing 20 feet tall and 15 feet broad, was on display for all to see and admire.

Who knows, maybe Mane, the shy, smiling Senegalese superstar, will be treated similarly one day. It seems only fair, given everything he's done for the club so far, and what's yet to come.