Neil Mellor has admitted that Saturday was a ‘sad day’ for Liverpool, amid reports that Sadio Mane is on the brink of leaving Anfield.

Mane is on the brink of quitting Liverpool and joining Bayern Munich.

The transfer to Germany has been accelerated this week after the Reds signed Darwin Nunez as the Senegal international’s replacement.

And on Saturday [90 Min], Bayern chief Hasan Salihamidzic confirmed that the 30-year-old would be leaving Merseyside for Bavaria.

Mane joined Liverpool in a £30 million deal from Southampton during the summer of 2016 and has proven a roaring success under Jurgen Klopp.

Since joining, he has been one of Klopp’s most reliable and consistent performers, helping the Reds to a Champions League title and Premier League.

Here’s how Mellor reacted to the development yesterday.

He told Sky Sports: “It is a sad day to see Sadio’s time at liverpool is coming to an end. He’s been absolutely brilliant. I remember seeing him as a Southampton player, thinking ‘this lad is a top player’. And when he arrived at Liverpool, that’s what he was – a top player.”

Is it sad?

In a word, yes.

As mentioned, Mane has been a huge success story at Liverpool and it’s always disappointing to see your best players exit.

Not only will the Reds’ supporters be upset, but so will his teammates and the coaching staff at Kirkby.

The German manager will have found Mane a joy to manage because there’s never any off-the-field drama with him.

Like virtually all of this Liverpool squad, he is utterly professional and no doubt that Nunez has massive boots to fill.

In other news, Report: £75,000-a-week player simply doesn’t want to stay at Arsenal