Thierry Henry has hailed Liverpool’s Sadio Mane as the Premier League‘s Player of the Season, ahead of the likes of N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard.
Mane has been a revelation since his £30 million move from Southampton last summer, scoring 13 goals and assisting a further six in 27 appearances in the English top flight.
The 24-year-old has been ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on a knee injury on Tuesday, after limping off midway through this month’s 3-1 Merseyside derby victory.
This serves as a blow to Liverpool’s top-four hopes, with Jurgen Klopp forced to alter his system without the winger.
That this is the case is a testament to Mane’s influence, and with Henry joining his fellow Sky Sports pundits in selecting their Player of the Season, the Frenchman highlighted this.
While Jamie Carragher and Niall Quinn both opted for Hazard, Gary Neville and Alan Smith nominated Kante and Graeme Souness picked Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henry gave his backing to Mane.
“I’ll have to give Ibrahimovic a lot of credit, but Sadio Mane has been the player of the season for me,” he explained.“Mane is a hell of a player. He brings something different to Liverpool.
“Mane is a hell of a player. He brings something different to Liverpool.
“But not only to Liverpool, to the Premier League [as a whole]. He’s been a star this year.”