Jurgen Klopp almost signed Sadio Mane when he was Borussia Dortmund manager, but felt the Senegalese was too much of a risk at the time.
The side that initially took the plunge on the Rb Salzburg winger was Southampton, and the rest, as we know, is history!
Mane was recently voted the world’s fourth best player for 2019 in the Ballon d’Or and is the key attacker for the best club side on the planet: Liverpool.
“It was simply a wrong evaluation of my side. I thought at that time that it was a lot of pressure on Dortmund and this transfer it had to be right,” Klopp said, reported in the Metro, when asked about why he didn’t bring Mane to Germany many years ago.
“It is not the only wrong decision I have made, but this one I could correct some years later!”
Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson was keen to laud Mane as well.
“It’s amazing, Sadio has been outstanding for a long period of time now,” he said. “He just needs to continue that form. He’s a fantastic person off the pitch, he dedicates his life to football.”
This term, Mane has 13 goals and four assists in 19 starts. Considering he is very much a winger and never a central striker, this return is phenomenal. Last term, Mane plundered 26 goals in 50 games, meaning he’s on track for his best ever return.
With Mo Salah back in form following a wonderful showing v Bournemouth, our attackers look primed to take the festive schedule by storm.
Klopp did brilliantly to buy both, and now they’re paying him back, and some.