Sadio Mané Reveals He Rejected Manchester United in 2015 Over Doubts About Game-Time Under Van Gaal
Former Liverpool winger Sadio Mané has disclosed that he turned down Manchester United in the summer of 2015 because he was unconvinced by Louis van Gaal’s assurances that he would play regularly ahead of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Ángel Di María, and Memphis Depay.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s podcast, the now 33-year-old Al Nassr forward detailed a direct phone call from Van Gaal while he was still at Southampton.
“Van Gaal called me and said, ‘I want you to come to Manchester United,’” Mané recalled. “My question was simple: ‘You have Rooney, Di María, Van Persie, Depay… where am I going to play?’ He told me if I trained well I would play, but I wasn’t convinced. I was young and wanted to play every week.”
United instead signed Anthony Martial that summer, while Mané joined Liverpool 12 months later for £36m. At Anfield he became a key figure in Jürgen Klopp’s side, winning the Champions League, Premier League, and multiple domestic cups.
Mané also confirmed he held talks with Tottenham that same summer and was more impressed by Mauricio Pochettino’s project than United’s star-heavy squad.
“I visited Tottenham’s training ground, met Pochettino, and was more convinced than by the Manchester United project,” he said. “At United there were too many big players.”
Now playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr, Mané reflected that waiting another year proved the right decision for his development.
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