Sadio Mane, a Liverpool forward, has disclosed that he turned down a move to Manchester United in 2016 before settling at Anfield.
In July 2016, the Senegal international joined the Merseyside club for £34 million from Southampton and has since made 268 appearances for the Reds in all competitions, scoring 120 goals.
Things could have turned out differently if Mane had made a different decision that summer, as the 30-year-old revealed to The Telegraph’s Jamie Carragher how close he came to joining United.
Mane remarked during the interview with the former Liverpool defender: “I must admit, I was on the verge of joining Manchester United. I have a deal with them. It was all agreed upon by me. It was all set to go, but I decided to travel to Liverpool instead.
“I was persuaded to support Klopp’s initiative. I’ll never forget the first time I received a call from Klopp. I was sitting in front of the television. He said, ‘Sadio, listen, I want to explain to you what occurred at Dortmund.
‘ It was an action movie, which I enjoy, and he said, ‘I want to explain to you what happened at Dortmund.’ That’s when he considered signing me for Dortmund, but it didn’t work out for whatever reason.
“I told him, “It’s okay, it happened,” and he answered, “It’s okay, it happened.” I was able to forgive him. ‘Now I want you at Liverpool,’ he added. ‘OK, Dortmund is behind us; let’s focus on the future,’ I remarked.”
Mane was speaking ahead of his side’s Champions League final match against Real Madrid in Paris on Saturday, with the attacker aiming to win the trophy for the second time in his Merseyside career.
Meanwhile, Mane is highly linked with a move to Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich this summer as he enters the final year of his contract with the Reds.