Sadio Mané revealed that he rejected a proposal from Manchester United a year before joining Liverpool, because he was not convinced by Louis van Gaal’s promise that he would play above figures like Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Ángel Di María.
The Senegalese striker, in an interview for the podcast “Rio Ferdinand Presents”, detailed his conversations with the then United coach, Van Gaal, in the summer of 2015, when he was still playing for Southampton.
Finally, Mané chose to reject United and signed with Liverpool for 36 million pounds sterling (47 million dollars) a year later. With the “Reds”, the player contributed to the success of Jürgen Klopp’s team in the Champions League and the Premier League.
Mané reported that he had a conversation with Van Gaal, in which the coach expressed his desire for him to join the team. However, the Senegalese player questioned his place in the starting eleven due to the presence of other important players such as Depay, Rooney and Di María.Manchester United called me at that time. I was talking to Van Gaal.
Sadio Mané
Mané explained that he was not completely convinced by Van Gaal’s explanations and that he felt he still needed time to develop as a player. The player also revealed that he held conversations with Tottenham Hotspur during the same summer and that he was more attracted to the possibility of playing under the direction of Mauricio Pochettino than to the proposal from Manchester United. According to Mané, he visited Tottenham’s facilities and was more convinced by the project than by Manchester United’s.My question was: you have Depay, you have Rooney, you have Di María, you have Van Persie, I think the same. So, where am I going to play? That was my question, because I want to play.
Sadio Mané
