Manchester United came close to signing the Liverpool forward a few years ago
(Image credit: PA)
Manchester United almost signed Liverpool forward Sadio Mane in 2016, according to the man himself.
Mane has been a revelation since moving to Anfield six years ago, scoring 120 goals in 268 appearances in all competitions. The Senegal international has won the Champions League, the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup on Merseyside. Liverpool paid just £34m to sign Mane from Southampton in 2016, but the forward has admitted he came close to signing for United instead.
"I have to say, I was really close to going to Manchester United," he told the Daily Telegraph.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“I had the contract there. I had it all agreed. It was all ready, but instead I thought, ‘No, I want to go to Liverpool’. I was convinced to go with [Jurgen] Klopp’s project. I still remember the first time I got the call from Klopp.
“I was watching TV. It was an action movie - because I love movies - and he said, ‘Sadio, listen, I want to explain to you what happened at Dortmund’.
"That was when he thought of signing me for Dortmund and for some reason it didn’t work out. He tried to explain and I said, ‘it’s okay, it happened’. I forgave him.
"Then he said, ‘now I want you at Liverpool’. And I said, ‘Okay, Dortmund is behind us, let’s focus on the future’.
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(Image credit: Getty)
“He said, ‘We have a big project at Liverpool and I want you to be part of it’. Then he asked what position I wanted, because he could see at Southampton I played on the right side and I used to play on the left.
"I said I prefer left, and then he said, ‘but [Philippe] Coutinho is on the left!’ So I said, never mind, I will play on the right. I could see myself in all the positions.”
Mane's contract at Anfield expires in 2023 and the Bayern Munich-linked forward is expected to announce a decision on his future after Saturday's Champions League final.
Liverpool will be looking to be crowned European champions for a seventh time when they face Real Madrid at the Stade de France.
Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).
