I snubbed Manchester United transfer – and then became a legend at Liverpool

A Manchester United manager failed in his efforts to sign Sadio Mane before he joined Liverpool and became a legend at Anfield.

A number of clubs expressed interest in signing Mane as his successful spell with Southampton was coming to an end.

Mane reached double figures in both of his seasons at St Mary’s, with his impressive and exciting form attracting interest from several top clubs.

The Senegal international ended up joining Liverpool in a deal worth £36m and quickly became an integral member of Jurgen Klopp’s squad.

Mane scored 18 goals in the season Liverpool won their first Premier League title in 30 years and also won the Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup at Anfield.

Manchester United also launched a move for Mane while he was at Southampton, with Louis van Gaal calling the forward personally to convince him to move to Old Trafford.

But Mane feared first-team opportunities would be limited at United so rejected Van Gaal’s advances in favour of a move to Liverpool.

‘At that time, Manchester United called me at the same time as Liverpool,’ Mane, currently at Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr, said on Rio Ferdinand’s podcast.

‘I was talking to Van Gaal… Rooney was there, Di Maria was there, Depay was there. When they failed to buy me, they bought Martial.

‘Van Gaal called me. He said, “Sadio, how are you? I want you to come to Manchester United”. I say, “Really?”

‘He said, “Yeah. I know you are a good player and you can help the team, and we can help you also to become a better player.”

‘I said, “Ok, but my question: you have Depay, you have Rooney, you have Van Persie, so where am I going to play?”

‘That was my question to him because me, I want to play. He said, “I know you’re talented, you’re good and if you train well and make a good impression, you will play, and we have another good player.”

‘I was not convinced about his

. A few days after that, Klopp called me. At the time Liverpool was even not in the Champions League.

‘When Klopp called me, he said, “How are you? It was my fault you didn’t come to Dortmund” – he knew I wanted to come.

‘I met him first. I was not happy and he apologised first. And he said, “We will build a team no one will want to play against and then if we grow up together, then you play every game.”

‘So when he said this, I went to this kind of project that I wanted because he said we’ll make a strong team and I will play every game.

‘I said to him, “Yes – this is my club! This is the right decision and this is what I want to do.” I told him other clubs wanted me but I’m going to Liverpool.’

After ending his six-year spell with Liverpool, Mane had one season at Bayern Munich before moving to Saudi Arabia in 2023.

Mane has scored 43 goals in 114 appearances and won the Arab Club Champions Cup at Al Nassr.

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