Transfer Centre

Sadio Mane reveals rejected Manchester United move

By Matthew Tranter, Reporter | 27 May 2022

Liverpool forward Sadio Mane reveals that he turned down a move to Manchester United from Southampton in 2016 before completing his move to Anfield.

Liverpool forward Sadio Mane has revealed that he turned down a move to Manchester United in 2016 before completing his move to Anfield.

The Senegal international moved to the Merseyside club from Southampton for £34m in July 2016, and has since gone on to make 268 appearances for the Reds across all competitions, scoring 120 goals.

However, things could have been different had Mane made a different decision that summer, with the 30-year-old discussing with The Telegraph's Jamie Carragher how close he came to a move to Old Trafford.

During the interview with the former Liverpool defender, Mane said: "I have to say, I was really close to going to Manchester United. 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 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.'"

Mane was speaking ahead of his side's tie with Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Paris on Saturday, with the forward looking to lift the trophy for the second time during his time on Merseyside.

Meanwhile, as Mane enters the final year of his contract with the Reds, he is being heavily linked with a move to Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich this summer.