Exclusive: Liverpool to offer Sadio Mane a new contract this summer

Sadio Mane is out of contract in the summer of 2023, however, a new deal has not yet been forthcoming from the club. So, what's the latest on the 30-year-old's future and will he be free to talk to other clubs in January?

As it stands, Liverpool have told Mane that he will be waiting until the summer before he gets an offer on a new contract.

The two parties had originally touched base last year, at which point I am told Liverpool were first given a gauge of where Mane and his party stood in terms of what it would take to get a new deal agreed.

This came just a matter of weeks after Virgil van Dijk signed a new contract, and therein lies an issue that has also impacted talks with Mohamed Salah.

Salah, as we discussed previously, is wanting a deal in excess of £400,000 - making him one of the Premier Leagues highest players – but still short of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin De Bruyne, in addition to soon-to-be City’s star summer signing in Erling Haaland.

Indeed many Liverpool fans would have few qualms about Salah being handed that sort of pay cheque, likewise few Reds will have issues with Mane being rewarded for his contributions over the last six years.

But going back to the Van Dijk deal signed in August last year, this was initially around the £220,000-a-week mark, but is likely to gradually move up to be closer to £250,000-a-week next year.

Mane, we understand, is looking for a deal worth around £300,000 – which would make him the club’s highest earner, not including any potential Salah deal, but are Fenway Sports Group willing to do that? It remains to be seen.

I am told that despite initial talks at the back-end of last year and an eagerness from Mane’s camp to talk now, the Anfield hierarchy have told them to wait until the end of the season, at which point they will receive an offer.

But what will be waiting for them? It is far from certain that FSG are about to hand Mane's representatives the deal they want, although I am told that as it stands, Mane’s people are keeping interested rivals at an arm's length.

Mane does not want to leave Liverpool – that is for sure - and from what I am hearing from both camps, a new deal is likely and he will sign a new contract at Anfield this summer.

With the addition of Diogo Jota, and more recently Luis Diaz, Mane – and indeed Salah – realise that maybe, just maybe, they are replaceable – something we thought was unthinkable not too long ago.

And with that in mind, Mane knows that a deal closer to what Van Dijk earns – and not any higher - might be needed to finalise his extension.

As it stands, the chances of both Mane and Salah staying at Anfield beyond 2023 remain far from certain.

What is certain, however, is that FSG will only do deals on their terms, but that will be in consultation with Jurgen Klopp, who has pledged his future to Liverpool in recent weeks.

Klopp has made it clear that he wants both players to stay – but the belief within the club is that he is in broad agreement with FSG and their approach to these two deals.