Liverpool have rejected a bid from Bayern Munich for Sadio Mane and James Milner is close to signing a new contract on “significantly reduced terms.”
Bayern want to sign Mane this summer as they look to bolster their own attacking lineup with Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry both looking to leave.
After receiving a £21million guaranteed bid plus £4m in add-ons, Liverpool rejected Bayern, according to Paul Joyce.
Liverpool have turned down Bayern Munich’s opening bid for Sadio Mane. It was for £21m guaranteed, plus £4m in add-ons payable if, for example, Bayern won the Champions League.
Also, James Milner close to signing new deal on significantly reduced terms.— paul joyce (@_pauljoyce) June 5, 2022
Mane is valued at €50million, per the Athletic, and so there is some negotiating to be done between the two clubs before an agreement can be reached.
I’ve resigned myself to losing Mane.
He’s given everything to the club over the last 6 years and has won every trophy available.
However, Liverpool cannot let him leave for less than they paid for him. I would feel that constitutes a failure on Liverpool’s part.
At the very least, we should be breaking even on the £34m paid to sign him from Southampton in 2016.
That’s around €40m.
Mane, in many ways, is irreplaceable.
You could find someone faster, better at finishing with a more creative streak but you can’t replace what he brings as a total package.
This season, he has shown that his importance to the team extends far beyond his goalscoring.
He often drags Liverpool forward and upfront, he is more than capable of going it alone.
Mane very almost scored a wonder goal in the Champions League final and was denied only by Thibaut Courtois’ fingertips which took his shot onto the post.
In all competitions this season, Mane scored 23 goals and got 5 assists.
Moving from the left wing to a false nine role really helped him overcome his mid-season slump.
He was struggling on the left where his declining pace and athleticism were working against.
The switch came about after Luis Diaz was signed and made the left-wing his own but the Colombian has a long way to go to reach the levels Mane has operated at since 2017.
It’s not done yet but it feels as though it’s simply a matter of time before an agreement is reached to sell the mercurial Senegalese.
It seems inevitable.