- 12 hours ago
How Man Utd tried to sign Sadio Mane before he joined Liverpool
FT Desk
- 20 Nov 2022 11:10 CST
- 3 min read
Former Man Utd manager Louis van Gaal has revealed that he tried to sign Sadio Mane while he was at the club.
Van Gaal managed Manchester United from 2014 to 2016, winning one FA Cup.
During that time, Mane played for Southampton, having arrived there from Red Bull Salzburg in the summer of 2014.
And Van Gaal, who is now managing the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup, says that he tried to buy Mane before he joined Liverpool in 2016.
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What did Van Gaal say?
“I wanted him when I was the manager at Man Utd,” Van Gaal said in his pre-match press conference when asked about Mane being ruled out of the World Cup due to injury.
“I chased him at the time. I am a fan of Mane. He can break open a match and I would say Senegal will really miss him.”
Van Gaal’s Holland team take on Mane’s Senegal on Monday in Group A.
And Mane’s former Liverpool teammate Virgil van Dijk has admitted that he feels sorry for the winger that he will miss the tournament.
What did Van Dijk say?
“I called him the next day in the morning and obviously I wanted to know how he was, first and foremost because there were so many rumours coming out that he was injured for a while,” Van Dijk said of Mane’s injury from last week.
“I wanted just to know how he was. Unfortunately it was not the best news he had and but there was a little bit of hope, everyone thought it, but unfortunately he wasn't going to be able to make this tournament.'
“I feel sad for him. I know how hard he works and he wants to be important for Senegal and he has been important over the past few years. It's tough.
“Obviously he's going to be a big miss for Senegal. Hopefully we can benefit from it a little bit.”
Mane signed for Liverpool in 2016 for a fee of around €40 million and went on to play 269 times for the club, scoring 120 goals.
His arrival is generally regarded as the catalyst to the club's golden era under Jurgen Klopp, which saw them win the 2018/19 Champions League as well as the 2019/20 Premier League - the first domestic league crown for the club since 1990.
