According to reports in the Daily Mail, Manchester United have renewed their attempts to lure Senegalese star Sadio Mane to Old Trafford.
The Red Devils hoped to complete a deal with the Saints this week, but the south coast club are understood to be reluctant to part with their attacker in this window, and they are reported to have stood firm and told Louis van Gaal that the midfielder is not available in no uncertain terms during this window.
Louis van Gaal wants to bring the Senegalese star to Old Trafford in this January window as he looks to breath life into his struggling forward line and it’s understood United officials have tried to broker a deal with their Saints counterparts this week.
However, while Southampton’s stance may result in United pursuing other targets this month, a move in the summer could well be on the cards, as the Mail suggests that the Saints will listen to offers at the end of the season.
Mane though would jump at the chance to join the Barclays Premier League giants, and he is understood to be relaxed about the situation as he knows he will have numerous options in the summer.
Relationships between the 23-year-old and the club manager Ronald Koeman has seemingly turned sour recently, despite enjoying a blistering career at St Mary’s – during which he helped the club defy last season’s pre-season predictions that their summer exodus would ultimately result in relegation to finish 7th, a feat which saw him also broke Robbie Fowlers record for the fastest ever hat-trick in the Premier League in 176 seconds.
He has started this term in fantastic form, turning out with some outstanding performances in the league, particularly against the top teams. His form saw him score 3 goals with 6 assists under his name.
The former Red Bull Salzburg player was dropped and publicly criticised by Koeman on Saturday for arriving late to a pre-match meeting ahead of the team’s loss at Norwich City. Saying: “you have to respect your team-mates, the fans and the club because they pay good money for the players. The unhappy Dutch manager also pointed out that Mane’s behaviour was unacceptable as he was late for another meeting in the past.
“To change the line-up two hours before the game, it’s unacceptable.
“It’s the second time, it happened one time last year when he was late at the stadium and today he was late for the meeting,
“I cannot understand that these kind of mistakes can happen.”
Saints officials, however, are relaxed by the incident, believing Mane’s recent lateness was a misunderstanding after Koeman pushed the meeting forward by 10 minutes.
