Sadio Manรฉ Revealsโค Manchester United Talks, Ultimately Chose Liverpool After Klopp’s Call
Senegalese forward Sadio Manรฉ nearly took a different path in the Premier League, revealing he held discussions with bothโ Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur before ultimately committing to Liverpool. The revelation came during an appearance on Rioโค Ferdinand’s podcast.
while at Southampton, โฃManรฉ received a call from then-Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal. “Van Gaalโ calledโ me and asked me how things were going.โค He โขsaid he wanted me โto come to Manchester United,” Manรฉ recounted.โ However, the attacker was unconvinced by Van Gaal’s โคplan for his role. “I said they already โฃhad Depay, Rooney, Di Marรญa and Van Persie, so I asked him โwhereโ I would play. Because I wanted to get minutes.He said heโ knew I had talent and โขwas good and that Iโข would play if I did well in training, butโ there wereโฃ other good players.I wasโ not convinced byโข his explanation.”
Manรฉโ also engaged in talks with Tottenham, expressingโ he was “more convinced” by manager Mauricio Pochettino than he โคhad been by Vanโ Gaal.โฃ He informedโฃ Pochettino he’d join if terms could be agreed โwithโข his agent. Though, โbefore โฃaโข deal โcould materialize, Liverpool manager Jurgen Kloppโ entered the picture.
“A few days later โI got a callโ from Jurgen Klopp. Butโ I wasn’t ready for it yet. I still needed one or two years to get where I wanted to go,” Manรฉโ admitted. Shortly after, Klopp followed up, prompting โคManรฉ to โคdecisively choose the Reds. “Then I said: ‘This is my club, this is what I want.โข I’m giving you my nod.'”
Manรฉ went on to spend six successful years at Liverpoolโ before movingโ to Bayern Munich in 2022, and currently plays for Al-Nassr inโฃ Saudi Arabia.The 33-year-old remains a key โplayer for the Saudi club.
