By Kevin Phillips

25th Jul, 2021 | 7:00pm

Phillips tells Liverpool to replace Mane with 'incredible' Belgium star after newspaper report

Kevin Phillips claims the signing of Jeremy Doku would be a sensible move as Liverpool look to replace Sadio Mane.

The Sunderland legend, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, reacted to fresh reports on the Euro 2020 star.

On July 18th, The Express claimed Liverpool are eyeing Doku as a replacement for Mane.

Doku, 19, nearly moved to Anfield from Anderlecht in 2018 with the Express claiming Jurgen Klopp, Steven Gerrard and Georginio Wijnaldum all spoke to him about signing.

He turned in an incredible performance as Belgium lost 2-1 to Italy in the quarter-finals of this summer’s European Championship.

The winger chipped in with an assist and caused problems for Roberto Mancini’s men all evening.

This followed an impressive season with Rennes as he made 37 appearances for the club.

Phillips insists the guarantee of regular first team football will be what Doku is looking for when choosing his next club.

“I think he’s a sensible replacement for someone like Mane,” Phillips told Football Insider correspondent Dylan Childs.

“He has that European and international experience so he could be an incredible signing.

“Doku would need regular football and it’s always hard to see if you will get it ahead of those Liverpool players.

“He had a great Euros and he’ll excite the fans. It depends how much Rennes ask for him.”

Mane, 29, joined Liverpool in 2016 and has scored 97 goals for the club.

However, last term saw diminishing returns as the attacker scored 16 times after scoring 22 goals the previous season.

In other news, pundit claims Liverpool star’s “legs are going” after key update.