A man who played alongside a Reds icon during his time at Anfield ranks the ex-England midfielder above a Senegalese star of the present
Sadio Mane is a “great” player, admits former Liverpool star Steve Nicol, but he is not yet in the same talent bracket as “lights out” Reds legend John Barnes.
Anfield has been home to many talented playmakers down the years.
England international Barnes secured icon status on Merseyside over the course of a memorable 10-year spell between 1987 and 1997.
His creative qualities made him one of the world’s top talents, with Mane among those following in his illustrious footsteps.
The Senegalese star has become a talismanic presence under Jurgen Klopp, with 77 goals recorded through his 161 appearances for Liverpool.
The 27-year-old has come into Ballon d’Or contention and been showered with praise, with talk of a big-money move to Spain never far away.
Nicol concedes that Mane is a special talent, but he still rates Barnes higher as the Jamaica-born star needed to have more strings to his bow than merely being a tricky winger.
Quizzed by ESPN FC on whether Mane is better than Barnes, ex-Reds defender Nicol said: “I’d have to say no.
“I think Sadio Mane is lucky the way Liverpool play. His job is pretty much to stay on one half of the field.
“Yes, he does come back and help out defensively every now and again, but generally he’s told to stay in the attacking half of the field and go at defenders.
“Now Barnesy, with the ball at his feet dribbling, at his best, was better than Mane.
“Unfortunately for Barnesy he had to do a lot more work in a game because one of his responsibilities was to defend, to get back behind the ball and be in a defensive position.
Source: goal.com
