Two big deals regarding attacking players took place recently in the Premier League and there have been many questioning which side came out with the better deal. While Liverpool announced the signing of Senegalese winger Sadio Mane from Southampton, Manchester United continued their great summer of transfers by signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Saints lost out on another player to the Merseyside club but the Reds did have to fork out £34 million for the 24-year-old. Manchester United had to pay around £26 million for the 27-year-old Armenian, even though he only had one more year left on his contract.
If we are to compare their values, it does seem that they do have the same amount, give or take a million or two. Mane is younger and had another excellent Premier League season, in fact, he has been one of the best players for the Saints ever since he joined them in 2014, while Mkhitaryan has been one of the best in the Bundesliga in his three seasons at Dortmund but his age and the fact that he was on his last year on the contract does prove the fact that United might have overpaid a little bit.
Closer home if we are to compare the effects that the players had for their clubs last season, Mane had scored 11 times and provided 6 assists for his team in the Premier League while Mkhitaryan was on fire in the Bundesliga scoring 11 goals and providing 15 assists for Dortmund.
While it does seem to be impressive for Mkhitaryan, he did play all around the park and the fact is that his movement and link up play with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus were the reasons why he thrived so well.
Mane, on the other hand, had to play with the likes of Graziano Pelle, and while the Italian is a good striker, he isn’t on the same level as those of Borussia Dortmund. Mane also played most of his games down the middle and thus being compared to what Mkhitaryan had done, it surely seems set that the Armenian had a better season than the now Liverpool star.
One thing that can work in favour of Mane is the fact that he does have Premier League history, unlike the Armenian. Playing in the Premier League is a completely different experience and that should help Mane at least perform better in the early stages of this season for Liverpool.
Mkhitaryan though is a star and he has always been linked with a move to a bigger club and that seems to have finally happened this season. The price tag, talent and the age are all in favour of the Armenian over Mane and it surely seems that the Old Trafford club got a much better deal.