Sadio Mané Explains How Liverpool Boss Jurgen Klopp Changed His Destiny With a Phone Call

• 2022 Africa Cup of Nations winner Sadio Mané has revealed how Jurgen Klopp masterminded his move to Liverpool
• The Senegal international has since become a cult hero at Liverpool but could have been a Manchester United player in 2016 but for a call from Klopp
• Mané's future is currently undecided about his future with Bayern Munich lurking around to lure the Senegalese to the Bundesliga

Sadio Mané has detailed how his proposed move to Manchester United collapsed following a call from Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

The former Southampton ace was on the cusp of joining the Red Devils six years ago but ended up joining their archrivals after he was convinced by his current manager Jurgen Klopp.

Mané eventually became Klopp's first signing at Liverpool in 2016 and has gone on to become a cult hero at Anfield.

"I have to say, I was really close to going to Manchester United. I had the contract there. I had it all agreed," Mane told The Telegraph as quoted by Daily Mail.

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"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."

The Senegalese talisman explained how Klopp's project changed his initial plan of joining Manchester United despite his initial failed move to Dortmund, which was handled by Klopp at the time.

"I was watching TV. It was an action movie - because I love movies - and he said, "Sadio, listen, I want to explain to you what happened at 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".

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'He said, "We have a big project at Liverpool and I want you to be part of it". Then he asked what position I wanted because he could see at Southampton I played on the right side and I used to play on the left.

'I said I prefer left, and then he said, "but Coutinho is on the left!" So I said, never mind, I will play on the right. I could see myself in all the positions.'

Mané believes Africans are overlooked for Ballon d'Or

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Sadio Mane has claimed that African players are often overlooked in the Ballon d’Or award.

The Liverpool forward believes that players of African descent are disadvantaged when it comes to the awarding of the top individual honour in football.

Mane is one of the leading contenders for this year’s award. He will be competing against his teammate Mohamed Salah and Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, who have similarly had stunning seasons.