"Kind of the forgotten man" - Darren Bent on who could replace Sadio Mane

Former England striker Darren Bent believes that Diogo Jota could replace Sadio Mane.

Liverpool signed the Portugal international from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a transfer fee of £40.23 million back in the summer of 2020.

Since then, Jota has scored 34 goals and registered nine assists in 84 appearances for the club's first-team.

Therefore, Bent believes that the 25-year-old could somewhat replace Mane. The Senegal international has recently joined Bayern Munich.

“I don’t think you can replace him straight away just man-for-man because I think he’s too good," he told talkSPORT (00:00).

“But if (Luis) Diaz gets his numbers up in terms of goals and assists and Jota’s scoring goals… He was kind of the forgotten man towards the end of last season, but he stepped in and was brilliant.

"(Luis) Diaz, (Roberto) Firmino’s still there and obviously (Mohamed) Salah speaks for himself, so they’ve still got so many different options in that front three area.”

Anfield Watch Verdict

We do agree with Bent's take. Jota definitely has the ability to help cover the loss of Mane. As we have pointed out, the forward knows how to find the back of the net.

We also agree with Bent that Jota has somewhat been forgotten by the Anfield faithful. He was not a regular starter for Liverpool towards the backend of the 2021-22 campaign for one reason.

Salah, Diaz and Mane were Jurgen Klopp's preferred front three at the aforementioned stage of last season.

But, Jota is only 25 years of age, so his Liverpool career is far from finished. Jota is contracted until June 2025.

Therefore, we look forward to seeing the forward in action next season. With Mane's departure confirmed, hopefully Jota takes his game to another level.