Sadio Mane reveals how Jurgen Klopp stopped him joining Manchester United

Liverpool star Sadio Mane has revealed just how close he was to signing for Manchester United, and how a phone call from Jurgen Klopp persuaded him to move to Anfield instead.

Mane was a £30 million signing from Southampton in 2016, Klopp’s first summer at Liverpool, and has had a transformative effect on the team under the German’s management.

The 30-year-old will play in his third Champions League final in five seasons on Saturday against Real Madrid, as Liverpool attempt to win the treble by adding to their Carabao and FA Cup wins this season.

But in an interview with former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, Mane revealed there was a contract offer from United that he was close to accepting before Klopp managed to change his mind.

“I have to say, I was really close to going to Manchester United,” Mane told The Telegraph. “I had the contract there. I had it all agreed. It was all ready, but instead I thought, ‘No, I want to go to Liverpool’.

“I was convinced to go with Klopp’s project. I still remember the first time I got the call from Klopp. He said, ‘Sadio, listen, I want to explain to you what happened at [Borussia] 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’.”

Mane could win four trophies this season after also winning the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal, and the forward is a leading contender to become the first African player to win the Ballon D’Or since 1990.