Few players have had such an impact on Liverpool’s fortunes as Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk.
The former is no longer at Anfield, having moved to Munich in the summer, while the latter is having one of his most difficult seasons at the club. Yet, if Liverpool’s rivals Manchester United had had their way, things may have turned out quite differently.
That’s because the Red Devils were interested in signing both of them before their respective arrivals at Anfield in 2016 and 2018. In Mane’s instance, his old club Southampton had even agreed on a price with United until a late call from Jurgen Klopp altered the course of Premier League history, given the Senegal star helped Liverpool win a league championship, Champions League, FA Cup, and EFL Cup during his stint at the club.
“I must tell, I came very close to joining Manchester United,” Mane told the Daily Telegraph. “I had the contract with me at the time. I had everything agreed upon. That was all setup, but I said, ‘No, I want to go to Liverpool.’
“I was persuaded to join (Jurgen) Klopp’s idea. I recall the first time I received a call from Klopp. ‘We have a tremendous initiative at Liverpool, and I want you to be a part of it,’ he stated.
“Then he inquired about the employment I want since he had seen it advertised in Southampton. I used to play on the left and now I play on the right. ‘But (Philippe) Coutinho is on the left!’ he responded after I indicated I preferred the left. So I replied, “Screw it, I’ll play on the right.” I could picture myself in all of the roles.”
It was a similar near call with Van Dijk, albeit United can only blame themselves for losing out on the Dutchman.
United had a choice between Van Dijk and Victor Lindelof after being linked with him during the summer of 2017 while he was still at Southampton.
Van Dijk’s Southampton teammate at the time, Charlie Austin, said in an interview years later that the now-Liverpool ace informed him the Red Devils had a straight choice between the two but chose Lindelof.
“I recall towards the conclusion of his Southampton tenure, we were on the bench together away at Chelsea,” Austin told talkSPORT in 2021. “‘Come on, Virgil, what’s going on? Surely Man United must’ve been interested in you,’ I murmured as I sat there. ‘England’s biggest club, etc.’
“‘You know what Chaz, in the summer it was either me or [Victor] Lindelof, and they signed Lindelof,’ he remarked. ‘Are you kidding me?’ I exclaimed. Nobody knows about it, he informed me on the bench. I couldn’t believe it, and I was as ᵴuгргιᵴeԀ as you were.
“Clearly, there were гᴜмогs in the summer that he was heading there, but they went and took Lindelof instead.”
Given that Lindelof is currently as low as fourth in United’s center defensive pecking order, the Red Devils’ management will need no reminder of how they got that one wrong.
