Liverpool star Sadio Mane has revealed that he did not actually want to join Southampton during the 2014 summer transfer window.
The Senegal international played for the Saints for two seasons before he was snapped up by Jurgen Klopp’s side in 2016 for a fee believed to be worth £34 million.
Mane has since gone on to become a pivotal part of the German’s plans, operating on the left-hand side of a dynamic front three.
The winger played a starring role as Liverpool lifted the Champions League trophy against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, and also impressed as the Reds fell narrowly short of the Premier League title.
Mane made a name for himself at St Mary’s Stadium, but if he had his way back in 2014, it seems he would not have made the switch from RB Salzburg.
Despite praising Southampton as a ‘very good club’, the 27-year-old has revealed that the transfer did not particularly enthuse him. Speaking to Onze Mondial, as translated by Sport Witness, he said:
That transfer [from Salzburg to Southampton] was tough and complicated. I’ll tell you the truth. Southampton is a very good club, but I didn’t want to go there. It was really complicated. That’s where I changed agents to the one I have now, Bjorn Bezemer.
I didn’t really have a choice, so I went to Southampton. I couldn’t stay in Salzburg, couldn’t go to [Borussia] Dortmund or [Spartak] Moscow, so I signed at Southampton.
