Sadio Mane's reason for joining Liverpool after Man Utd transfer 'agreement'

Liverpool managed to change the course of its history when it convinced Sadio Mane to sign for the club in 2016. He would go on to become part of the iconic front three that dominated world football — and the Reds' gain was Manchester United's loss .

Between them, Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino struck fear into the hearts of any opponent. More than any other players, those three will define the era of success under Jurgen Klopp , which saw the Champions League and Premier League trophies brought to Anfield .

But it could so easily have been so different. Manchester United was also in for Mane, and it was only a combination of good judgment and good fortune that saw Liverpool win the day.

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Mane himself revealed to the Daily Telegraph in 2022 that he even had an "agreement" in place with Manchester United. And in an extract from his new book, published in The Times , former Liverpool data guru Dr Ian Graham has given the Anfield perspective on how it all played out — revealing one factor that could have killed the Reds' interest before it had even really materialized.

"Eddy [Michael Edwards, who was Liverpool sporting director] did some due diligence on Mané’s character," Graham revealed. "We were dismayed to find the opinion was negative.

"At Southampton he was apparently unprofessional, late for training, and a “difficult character”. Michael’s job is to weigh up these character references against the ability and fit of a player, and the finances of the transfer. He decided that the poor character reference was not important enough to stop the transfer and I’m very glad that he did.

"It was a lesson that canvassing opinion about a player can lead to very unreliable information. Completely contrary to the character references Eddy received, Sadio Mané was one of the most intelligent, decent, professional and hard-working players we ever signed."

It's remarkable to hear the feedback Liverpool received on Mane. And credit has to go to Edwards for pursuing the move anyway — emphasis is rightly placed on a good dressing room at Anfield, so the transfer could easily have been stopped in its tracks at this early stage, but he was given the chance to prove that these character references were total nonsense.

But this was just the start of Liverpool getting a deal done. Those within the club feared it could miss out to Manchester United, especially after failing to qualify for the Champions League.

"He could have chosen to sign for Manchester United instead," Graham recounted. "Playing in the Champions League is a huge draw for any player, so it was imperative that we qualified, otherwise Manchester would be the more attractive destination.

"We had reached the final of the Europa League in 2015-16: if we won it we would qualify for the Champions League. We lost the final to Sevilla but, surprisingly, Mané still chose Liverpool over Manchester United.

"Years later, Eddy asked why Mané and his agent had made this decision. The reason was that they believed in Jürgen’s ability, in his enthusiasm for Mané, and they believed that something special was going to happen at Liverpool."

What a shrewd decision that turned out to be. Manchester United has lurched between crises in that period, failing to even come especially close to winning the Premier League or the Champions League, while Mane was able to write his name among the game's greats.

Still, fine margins. Liverpool will hope it can have another of these sliding doors moments under Arne Slot — although it will need to make a signing first.

Liverpool.com says: How easily Mane could have slipped away. Just look at Martin Zubimendi, for whom Liverpool thought a deal was as good as done.

Of course, for players who don't sign, the "what might have been" is destined to always remain hypothetical. But Liverpool knows with certainty just how important Mane was to the years of success under Klopp, and will forever be thankful that he chose to reject Manchester United.