The 57-year-old former England defender states why the Lion of Teranga wants to leave the Reds ahead of the new campaign.
Former Arsenal defender Perry Groves has claimed winger Sadio Mane is pushing to leave Premier League side, Liverpool because he wants to move out of the shadow of teammate Mohamed Salah.
Despite having one year left on his contract at Anfield, the 30-year-old Senegal international is already being linked with a move to Bundesliga side Bayern Munich.
According to 57-year-old Groves, who played for the Gunners between 1986 to 92, the former Southampton player is determined to leave the Reds to be “the main man.”
“You think Mane wants to be the main man,” Groves said as quoted by talkSPORT. “At Liverpool, Salah is the main man.
“Roberto Firmino is playing, Luis Diaz has come in and Diogo Jota is there. They play with a front-three so you can always rotate.
“Salah is always the first name of the three and Mane is the second. Firmino used to be important, but he has drifted out in terms of his importance. If you look at his numbers, left, right, and through the middle, for Liverpool he has one goal in every two and a bit games.”
Groves continued: “When he came from Southampton that was one in three, and wasn’t playing in as good a team. His finishing has got better, he calms himself down more. Before, he was the typical wide player who got himself in those positions and rushed his finishing.
“He has improved on how clinical he is, his finishing.”
Meanwhile, former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann believes Mane will finally leave Liverpool for Bayern in the current transfer window.
“Yeah, what I hear is that he wants to come to Munich,” the 48-year-old Hamann, who managed 191 appearances for Liverpool and scored eight goals, told the same portal. “He’s made it pretty clear that he thinks his time in Liverpool is up and he wants to come and now it’s a matter of how much Liverpool will want for him.
“Obviously Robert Lewandowski wants to join Barcelona, he only has a year left on his contract, so I think Bayern Munich will want to get both deals done in the next few days or next few weeks, but I think it’s very likely that he plays his football here next year.”
Hamann added: “If Lewandowski goes they obviously have to bring in a centre forward as a younger player. Sasa Kalajdzoc at Stuttgart is someone, who has done well, I think they’re after him as although Mane has played that role through the middle, I don’t really like him there and I think he’s a lot more effective on that left side.
“There’s a question mark over whether Serge Gnabry’s going to stay and Leroy Sane who has been disappointing over the last six months, so Bayern Munich could really do with him and I think he’s a superstar.”
Last season, Mane scored 16 Premier League goals from 34 matches.