Sadio Mane has forged a name for himself as one of the best African players of his era.

In his six year spell with Liverpool, Mane won everything there was to win in English and European football as part of Jurgen Klopp's historic period of success.

And he wasn't just a minor piece of the puzzle, Mane was instrumental in everything Liverpool achieved since he joined the club in 2016.

Klopp bigs up Mane

Speaking via Liverpool FC's website after Mane's move to Bayern Munich was confirmed, Klopp heaped praise on the star:

"One of Liverpool’s greatest ever players is leaving and we must acknowledge how significant this is.

“The goals he scored, the trophies he won; a legend, for sure, but also a modern-day Liverpool icon.

“Since he first stepped through the door, he made us better. If someone had told us in that moment what he would go on to contribute and achieve for this club, I’m not sure it would have been possible to comprehend in that moment. Not the scale of it at least.

"Sadio made it all possible."

Mane bagged 120 goals in 269 appearances for Klopp's side and established himself as one of the world's leading attackers.

He also lifted the 2021 African Cup of Nations with Senegal, beating teammate Mohamed Salah's Egypt team to the title.

But does leading Senegal to victory alongside everything else Mane has achieved make him Africa's best? Was he even the best African player at his former club given the calibre of player Salah is?

Well, FourFourTwo have looked to try and clarify that by ranking who they believe are the 10 best African footballers in the world right now.

The 10 best African footballers ranked

10. Wilfried Zaha - Crystal Palace & Ivory Coast
9. Victor Osimhen - Napoli & Nigeria
8. Sebastien Haller - Ajax & Ivory Coast
7. Franck Kessie - Barcelona & Ivory Coast
6. Edouard Mendy - Chelsea & Senegal
5. Achraf Hakimi - PSG & Morocco
4. Riyad Mahrez - Man City & Algeria
3. Kalidou Koulibaly - Napoli & Senegal
2. Sadio Mane - Bayern & Senegal
1. Mohamed Salah - Liverpool & Egypt

So, it is in fact Salah that holds the candle over his former teammate in FourFourTwo's eyes.

It's an understandable decision too, whilst Mane has enjoyed an incredible second half of the season, Salah was simply unstoppable for large parts of the campaign and his goal record is tough to argue with (156 goals in 249 games for Liverpool).

Liverpool's Salah and Mane.

Mane is a very deserving second, though, and is miles ahead of his compatriot Koulibaly in third.

Mahrez can probably count himself unfortunate to miss out on the podium, however the fact that he's arguably not even a starter at Man City surely counts against him.

Pacey full-back Hakimi just about does enough to keep Chelsea's impressive stopper Mendy out of the top-half.

Whilst the soon to be Barcelona man, Kessie, sneaks in just behind and is interestingly the highest rated Ivorian on the list - oh how the Ivory Coast must miss the days of Didier Drogba...

Haller, formerly of West Ham, occupies eighth. Whilst reported Arsenal target, Osimhen, registers in ninth place overall.

We have some more current Premier League representation in the form of Palace's slippery trickster Zaha at 10.

Sadio Mane quiz