Liverpool and Manchester United are two of the biggest football clubs in the world. Therefore, the Premier League giants are often in competition, not only on the field, but in the transfer market too.
Both sides have the capacity to attract the biggest stars on the planet with the lure of their history and significant financial power. But what happens when the juggernaut clubs go head-to-head for a signing?
Well, in recent years, it has been the Merseyside-based outfit that have been able to steal United targets away and bring them to Anfield. The likes of Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister and Darwin Nunez were all linked with switches to Old Trafford before Liverpool came calling.
The only recent example of the Red Devils getting one over on their bitter rivals in this respect came with the signing of promising French defender Leny Yoro. One of the main reasons behind players opting to join Liverpool ahead of Man United was the pull of playing under Jurgen Klopp.
This is exactly what happened in the case of Sadio Mane, who was days away from sealing a move to Manchester before the German boss came calling. It turned out to be a masterstroke from the iconic manager, while United were left wondering ‘what if?’
Sadio Mane on Failed Man Utd Move
Mane was a highly sought-after property in the summer of 2016 following an impressive rise to prominence with Southampton. With big clubs circling, Man United were revealed to be the initial front-runners, as the winger explained himself in 2019 (per The Mirror):
“I was really, really close [to a move to Man Utd] because I even met up with them.
“So I was coming, I was there, and I spoke with the boss who was there before [Van Gaal].”
While everything looked to be signed, sealed and delivered for the Senegalese star to move to the 13-time Premier League champions, his mind was swayed at the last minute. He explained: “They made an offer, but in the same week, Klopp called me. He said: ‘I think it’s the right club. The right coach for you, and I think it’s better that you go to Liverpool’. For me, I think it was the right time as well. I said, ‘I am going to Liverpool.’”
Mane’s Liverpool Career
From a promising winger at Southampton to one of the very best to have graced the Premier League, Mane achieved everything he would have dreamed of at Anfield. Between 2016 and 2022, the Senegal international netted 120 goals in the famous red shirt, cementing his legacy among the greats to have worn it.
Alongside Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, the energetic livewire helped Liverpool ascend to become one of the most exciting attacking units in world football, winning the Premier League and Champions League along the way. Klopp rarely got any of his transfers wrong while at the club, and Mane was one of his greatest pieces of business.
The player himself enjoyed his spell as much as fans adored watching him run down the left flank over his six years at the club. Mane explains his time with the club as ‘great’:
“From the first day, I came to the club, I spoke to the boss when I was in Southampton, and I think at that time, we were not even in the Champions League.
“He called me, and I said, ‘For sure.’ I just decided in my heart that I am coming to Liverpool because that is where I see myself, and for me, it was the right time and the right club to achieve everything. So, I can say, of course, we won a lot, and I had a great, great time there.”
He’s undoubtedly a modern-day great of the club, and can even be considered one of the best wingers Liverpool have ever had, which is an impressive feat in itself. Supporters were left heartbroken when Mane called time on his Reds’ fairytale to join Bayern Munich in 2022, but still hold him dearly in their hearts.
Jurgen Klopp on Sadio Mane
Not only do fans see Mane as one of the finest talents to have worn a Liverpool shirt, but the man who convinced him to join the club is in full agreement too. Speaking to the club website after Mane’s departure to Germany, Klopp claimed:
“One of Liverpool’s greatest ever players is leaving and we must acknowledge how significant this is.
“He leaves with our gratitude and our love. He leaves with his status among the greats guaranteed. And, yes, he leaves in a moment where he is one of the best players in world football.”
Summing up perfectly exactly how all Kopites felt about the departing hero, the German added: “The goals he scored, the trophies he won; a legend, for sure, but also a modern-day Liverpool icon.” How different could things have been if he went through with the Man United move?