Adebayo Akinfenwa names Liverpool star who would help him get “20 assists”

Adebayo Akinfenwa reckons he would get 20 assists if he played with Sadio Mane because “he’d run and I’d stand still.”

The Liverpool star has enjoyed possibly his best season and is in contention to be named the PFA Player of the Year.

Mane forms one third of an electric forward line that is seen by some as the best in world football.

Each brings something to the table with Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah equally as influential.

But Akinfenwa would opt to play with the former Southampton man who would perhaps compliment his style more.

He said: “Its hard – selfishly I think Firmino and I would like to play with him but playing alongside Mane I would get like 20 assists.

“I think me and Mane would just be insane. He’d run and I’d stand still.”

Mane’s Reds boss Jurgen Klopp called Akinfenwa on the night of Wycombe’s play-off success.

It means they are now just one tier below Liverpool and will enjoy the benefits of playing in the Championship – something the veteran forward has never experienced before.

He continued: “Its the little things that I’ve never had in my career.

“We get international breaks as long as the international football comes back. But there’s little things I’ve never been able to experience before.”

Being in England’s second tier will also give Akinfenwa the chance to come up against Watford’s Troy Deeney, provided the he stays at Vicarage Road, a challenge he is relishing.

He added: “I am looking forward to, if he stays, playing against Troy Deeney. I’ll be looking froward to that and tell my defenders that he’s a problem and triple up on him.

“I may have to hold his hands back or something. But I’ve been proud of what he’s done and someone who I look up to.”

Akinfenwa was speaking at the launch of BAST, the new innovative gaming platform bringing gamers into direct competition with celebrities. To find out more visit www.bast.gg