{"id":309981,"date":"2026-02-21T14:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T14:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/309981\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T14:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T14:48:13","slug":"liverpool-leading-race-to-sign-wolves-starlet-mateus-mane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/309981\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool leading race to sign Wolves starlet Mateus Mane"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liverpool are reportedly leading the race to sign a Premier League prodigy who\u2019s been tipped to become a potential \u2018superstar\u2019.<\/p>\n

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL EMPIRE OF THE KOP APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES \u2013 STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON\u00a0APPLE<\/a>\u00a0&\u00a0GOOGLE PLAY<\/a><\/p>\n

In previous years, the Reds have capitalised upon the relegations of other teams by prising some of their crown jewels, with Gini Wijnaldum from Newcastle in 2016 and Andy Robertson from Hull a year later among the standout examples.<\/p>\n

A fresh report suggests that they could be planning a similar raid for a player who seems destined to remain in the top flight, even if his current club drop down a division.<\/p>\n

Liverpool leading Mateus Mane transfer race<\/p>\n

As reported by Mark Brus for the Daily Briefing<\/a>, Liverpool are the current frontrunners in the race to sign Wolves attacker Mateus Mane, who\u2019s also attracting strong interest from Arsenal and Manchester United.<\/p>\n

With Rob Edwards\u2019 side almost certain to be relegated this season barring a miraculous recovery between now and May, Molineux chiefs are seemingly resigned to losing the 18-year-old in the summer, and it\u2019s claimed that the Anfield hierarchy have held \u2018positive\u2019 initial discussions with his representatives.<\/p>\n

Although some sources have indicated that the Reds are prepared to submit a bid for the teenager later this year, this report claims that the Merseyside club are unlikely to pay the Old Gold\u2019s current valuation of approximately \u00a350m.<\/p>\n

\"Liverpool(Photo by Carl Recine\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Mane will soon have prospective Liverpool audition<\/p>\n

The emergence of Mane has been the one ray of positivity in a dismal season for Wolves, who despite their creditable 2-2 draw against Arsenal in midweek are still 17 points from safety with only 33 more available to them in the Premier League, having earned just 10 so far.<\/p>\n

Paul Merson said on Sky Sports this week (via Express & Star<\/a>) that the 18-year-old \u2018looks like he could be a superstar\u2019, also praising the youngster\u2019s attitude on the pitch in giving the beleaguered Molineux faithful something to shout about.<\/p>\n

If the teenager has aspirations of a move to Liverpool, he soon has the perfect audition opportunity coming up when the Reds face Edwards\u2019 side twice in four days<\/a> at the beginning of March in a Premier League and FA Cup double header in the Black Country.<\/p>\n

As seen in the table below (citing data from Fotmob<\/a>), Mane ranks very highly among positional peers in the English top flight for a few criteria this season, although there are other aspects to his game which understandably need refinement given his tender years.<\/p>\n

2025\/26 Premier League
\nPer 90 minutes
\nPercentile among positional peers<\/p>\n

Shots on target
\n1.09
\n99th (top 1%)<\/p>\n

Successful dribbles
\n1.46
\n98th<\/p>\n

Shots
\n2.46
\n96th<\/p>\n

Goals
\n0.18
\n83rd<\/p>\n

Crossing success
\n34.1%
\n81st<\/p>\n

xG
\n0.11
\n76th<\/p>\n

The step-up in quality to Arne Slot\u2019s squad would be a substantial one for such a young player, and spending \u00a350m on someone who\u2019s still largely unproven at senior level would represent a significant gamble.<\/p>\n

However, Liverpool will be aware that any hesitation on their part could open the door for direct rivals to pounce, so it\u2019ll be interesting to see what happens over the next few months with this hugely exciting talent.<\/p>\n

You can watch Slot\u2019s full pre-Nottingham Forest\u00a0press conference below, via\u00a0Empire of the Kop<\/a>\u00a0on YouTube:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool are reportedly leading the race to sign a Premier League prodigy who\u2019s been tipped to become a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-309981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}