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| Sadio Mane of Bayern Muenchen controls the Ball during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern München at Signal Iduna Park on October 8, 2022 in Dortmund, Germany. |
Yaya Toure has revealed that he recommended Sadio Mane to Manchester City during the winger’s spell at Southampton.
Mane enjoyed two brilliant seasons at Southampton between 2014 and 2016, excelling under then-manager Mauricio Pochettino and scoring 21 goals in 67 Premier League appearances. Such form was enough to catch the eye of Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp sanctioning a £34million move in the summer of 2016.
The Senegal international went on to become one of Liverpool’s most influential players as the Merseyside club battled with City for over half-a-decade and won the Champions League. But things could have been different if Toure had his way.
“I always wanted to play with him [Mane],” Toure told ‘Match of the Day Africa: Top 10’. “When I was at City, at the time when he was at Southampton, I highly regarded him and I was asking some of my superiors to just sign him. But in the end it just didn’t happen.
“After that Klopp had the eyes to get him and now look what he did for Liverpool, he was brilliant. I like him, I like him as a player.”
Mane scored 120 goals in six seasons for Liverpool before leaving for Bayern Munich in a £35m deal last summer. The 31-year-old’s departure coincided with Klopp’s men enduring one of their worst campaigns in years.
Toure spent eight years at City between 2010 and 2018, joining from Barcelona for around £24m. The Ivorian international played 316 times for the club, scoring 79 goals and winning three Premier League titles.