Sadio Mane Opens Up About Jurgen Klopp Phone Call That Convinced Him To Reject Man Utd And Join Liverpool

How close, you say? I'll let the man himself reveal all.

"I still remember the first time I got the call from Klopp," Mane added. “I was watching TV. It was an action movie - because I love movies - and he said, ‘Sadio, listen, I want to explain to you what happened at Dortmund’.

"That was when he thought of signing me for Dortmund and for some reason it didn’t work out. He tried to explain and I said, ‘it’s okay, it happened’. I forgave him. Then he said, ‘now I want you at Liverpool’. And I said, ‘Okay, Dortmund is behind us, let’s focus on the future’. 

“He said, ‘We have a big project at Liverpool and I want you to be part of it’. Then he asked what position I wanted, because he could see at Southampton I played on the right side and I used to play on the left. I said I prefer left, and then he said, ‘but Coutinho is on the left!’

"So I said, never mind, I will play on the right. I could see myself in all the positions.”

Van Gaal later confirmed their interest in Mane, along with several other big names.

"He was also interesting for the club in terms of selling shirts, and I wanted to have quick wingers. For that reason, I also tried to get Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez.

"Thomas Muller was on my wish list, too, and in central midfield I wanted N’Golo Kante. I even tried to sign James Milner, who was already quite old but very multifunctional and possessed leadership skills.

"For the defence, I wanted Sergio Ramos and Mats Hummels, because ours wasn’t the strongest in building from the back."