Will Senator Manchin become the de facto leader of the Senate?

Senator Manchin is one of those rare Senators who can see both sides of an issue and decide on his vote in an essentially non-political way. In order for him to become even more important in the Senate, the Democrats have to sweep the two runoffs in Georgia and make Schumer the majority leader.

If that happens, the Democrats will control the Senate agenda and much of the legislation it passes. However, with a 50–50 split in the Senate, the Democrats will need all 50 Democratic Senators to vote for their pet ideas. We know how hard that is. The Republicans had a 53–47 majority, yet they could not kill Obamacare.

So the Democrat who has exhibited the greatest Republican tendencies will become more powerful. My question is: will he become even more powerful than the majority leader?