Sadio Mane’s Manchester United comments show what Erik ten Hag must do in transfer market

As Liverpool gave Sadio Mane the full farewell treatment yesterday, there's an alternative reality where he'd spent the previous six seasons at Old Trafford instead of Anfield.

United were interested in Mane when he left Southampton in 2016 and according to the man himself he was very close to moving to Manchester United, rather than making a £34million switch to Liverpool.

"I have to say, I was really close to going to Manchester United. I had the contract there. I had it all agreed. It was all ready, but instead, I thought, 'No, I want to go to Liverpool," Mane told the Daily Telegraph last month.

"I was convinced to go with (Jurgen) Klopp's project. I still remember the first time I got the call from Klopp. He said, 'We have a big project at Liverpool and I want you to be part of it.'"

As Mane tells it, Klopp's selling power swung his decision to pick Liverpool. This came in a summer when United had finished three places and six points ahead of Liverpool.

Maybe there's a little exaggeration here from Mane, maybe Liverpool just acted more decisively than United, who installed a new manager that summer in Jose Mourinho. Liverpool catching United cold in the transfer market isn't a difficult theory to get behind in recent seasons.

United were certainly interested in Mane, of that there is no doubt, and he is clearly one that got away. For £34m he has to be one of the best value-for-money signings in the Premier League era.

He's parted Liverpool on good terms, as evidenced by his farewell interview and the glowing tribute from Jurgen Klopp, and given his record that's probably no surprise. He won six trophies and scored 120 goals in his six years on Merseyside.

Mane could certainly have made a difference to United's