The Mirror have suggested that the 31-year-old could move to Manchester United, citing comments made last year that he could have joined the Red Devils prior to his Liverpool move. Indeed, Louis van Gaal confirmed to FourFourTwo in 2020 that Mane was close to joining him at Old Trafford.
Mane and Sane had an explosive fight after the defeat to Manchester City (Image credit: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
"I have to say, I was really close to going to Manchester United. I had the contract there," Mane told Jamie Carragher in a piece for The Telegraph last year. "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 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.
"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 Coutinho is on the left!' So I said, never mind, I will play on the right. I could see myself in all the positions."
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Sadio Mane is a Liverpool legend – now he's linked with Manchester United (Image credit: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Despite the comments resurfacing, there's no concrete interest from Manchester United this time around. Mane only joined Bayern last summer and may well be reintegrated back into the side following his fallout with Sane.
The forward is valued to be worth €45 million by Transfermarkt.
Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.
