Orphans in Malawi have been handed over one hundred Liverpool shirts with Sadio Mane’s name and number on the back.
Reds fans were given the opportunity to swap their 2018/19 replica kits after winger Mane altered his number at the start of the season.
The Senegalese speedster had worn the No.19 last season and keen supporters had bought the strip for this season before the new number list had been announced.
But Mane decided to upgrade to put No.10 on his back, which had become available after Philippe Coutinho moved to Barcelona in January.
As a result, Liverpool bosses gave fans the chance to also replace their Mane tops to No.10 from their original 19.
And the Merseyside club have now delivered the “Mane 10” shirts to the African nation of Malawi – via charities KitAid and Friends of Mulanje Orphans (FOMO).
“It’s like a dream for the children in the villages, getting a t-shirt that they never thought they would get,” Mary Woodworth, founder of FOMO told ESPN. “It’s just magical basically.
“It will make a big difference, especially in the villages. Because they don’t have the means of getting any money or to be able to buy one t-shirt. It’s a dream come true [for them].”
KitAid recycles unwanted football kits by distributing them to underprivileged children in some of the world’s poorest countries.
“We have a saying, which is: ‘It’s more than just a shirt,'” KitAid founder Derrick Williams added to ESPN. “And it really is because when you go out you see the kids that are desperate for football kit to be part of a team.
“We hear stories where if they haven’t got [a] kit then their team isn’t allowed into a league, which is really heartbreaking. So it’s great that we can provide that by working through organisations like FOMO in Malawi.”