MY ACCOUNT
Sadio Mane has revealed he came close to joining Manchester United in 2016, agreeing a contract with the Red Devils before making a last-minute decision to join Liverpool after a call from Jurgen Klopp.
Mane has scored 23 goals in 50 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions this term, helping Klopp’s team to win the EFL Cup and FA Cup trophies, while the Reds could yet add the Champions League when they face Real Madrid in Saturday’s final in Paris.
The 30-year-old scored when Liverpool faced Madrid in the 2018 final in Kyiv, though substitute Gareth Bale netted a brace to condemn Klopp’s side to a 3-1 defeat.
Liverpool are bidding to win their seventh European crown at the Stade de France, and Mane has been touted as a potential Ballon d’Or contender after also firing Senegal to their first Africa Cup of Nations title earlier this year.
However, things could have been very different for Mane, who said he had the chance to join Liverpool’s rivals United when he departed Southampton in 2016.
Speaking to former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher in an interview for the Telegraph, Mane recalled how a phone call from Klopp, who had attempted to sign him for former club Borussia Dortmund on a previous occasion, saw his head turn.
“I have to say, I was really close to going to Manchester United,” Mane said. “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. 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’.”
Mane scored in both legs of Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final win over Villarreal, setting up the Reds’ ninth European Cup/Champions League meeting with Madrid.
Having won the first three such contests between 1981 and 2009, however, Liverpool are winless in the last five (one draw, four defeats), including their 2018 final loss.
