Paul Joyce, Northern Football Correspondent
Sunday June 05 2022, 10.30pm, The Times
Liverpool have rebuffed Bayern Munich’s opening bid for Sadio Mané after the German side tabled a £25 million package for the forward.The offer was submitted at the end of last week and consisted of a fee of £21 million, plus £4 million in add-ons, of which a large chunk would depend on Julian Nagelsmann’s side winning the Champions League in the future.
Liverpool officials did not entertain the offer, which they believe hugely undervalues the 30-year-old forward, and have not given Bayern a price at which they are prepared to sell. The Bundesliga club remain eager to proceed quickly and the onus is now on them to prove to Mané how much they want him by upping their offer.
The Senegal forward, who has scored 120 goals in 269 games since joining Liverpool from Southampton in 2016, has a year left on his contract and his reluctance to enter into discussions over a new deal last season can now be viewed as evidence of his desire for a fresh challenge. Mané scored a hat-trick in Saturday’s 3-1 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win over Benin, after which he clarified the comments he made before the game that hinted he would leave Liverpool because most fans in his homeland feel the club undervalues him.
“I spoke yesterday while joking with a bit of humour and it was everywhere,” Mané said. “I think we’ll stop there. Liverpool is a club I respect a lot. The fans adopted me since day one. Regarding the future, we’ll see.”
If they decide to sell , Liverpool would demand a fee sufficient to recruit a suitable replacement.
There is interest in Benfica’s Darwin Núñez, the Uruguay striker who scored home and away against Jürgen Klopp’s side in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but Liverpool will not pursue the 22-year-old at any cost.Meanwhile, James Milner is set to snub lucrative offers from home and abroad to sign a new contract with Liverpool, albeit on significantly reduced terms. The commitment from Milner, 36, will delight Klopp, who believes he will still have a big role to play — especially with the introduction of five substitutes in the Premier League from next season.
Contract talks are also on the agenda with Joe Gomez, the defender, who has two years remaining on his present deal.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/liverpool-reject-25m-bid-from-bayern-munich-for-sadio-mane-vt9j8v903
