Sadio Mane might join Bayern Munich from Liverpool in the summer transfer window,
in a deal that would be a reversal of his teammate Thiago Alcantara’s move two years ago.
Bayern Munich is willing to play the long game in their pursuit of Sadio Mane from Liverpool,
and the transfer saga bears striking similarities to a previous transaction between the two teams.
Liverpool completed an agreement to sign Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara in September 2020.
The Reds paid a £20 million initial price, with a further £5 million in add-ons contingent on performance-based criteria.
That transfer cost was considered a steal at the time, and it appears Bayern is attempting to repeat the feat this time.
According to sources in Germany, the Bavarian giants have already had the first offer of £21 million-plus £4 million,
in add-ons rejected by Liverpool, but they are not giving up, and are preparing a second offer of £30 million-plus £4.2 million
in possible incentives.
Bayern Munich is sure that they will be able to secure their desired player. President Herbert Hainer told BILD recently:
“We can acquire any player we want if we want him. But he needs to fit in with us.
” Thiago has even offered Mane the use of his Munich property, according to new claims.
Mane, who has scored 120 goals in 269 games for Liverpool over the last six years,
has not shied away from stirring the pot himself. The 29-year-old has claimed that he will leave to fulfill the demands of Senegal’s supporters, before subsequently clarifying that he was “joking” and that he still has complete respect for Liverpool.
With the summer transfer window not officially starting until July 1, the discussion claims,
and counterclaims are likely to drag on for a while. However, if they do buy Mane this summer as predicted,
it will be regarded as a kind of retaliation for Liverpool’s Thiago deal two years ago.
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Thiago was a huge hit at Bayern Munich. He spent seven years with Bayern Munich,
winning seven Bundesliga titles, four DFB-Pokal cups, and the Champions League. Back two years,
he was 29 years old and still had a year left on his Bayern Munich deal.
Bayern Munich’s chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and sports director Hasan Salihamidzic,
fought tirelessly to keep Thiago until the midfielder flipped the script and demanded a move to Liverpool.
“In reality, Hasan’s meetings with him have always been quite constructive,” Rummenigge said at the time to Sky Germany.
“At one time, it appeared like it was finished.” Thiago, on the other hand, informed Hasan that he wanted to try something new.
That is something we must accept. We have a one-year contract with Thiago, and if he signs with another club, that club will be responsible for paying a transfer fee of a certain amount.”
That “determined sum” turned out to be a mere £20 million in the end. Bayern is now determined.
to get a similar bargain for Mane who – like Thiago two years ago – is a key player, 29 years old,
He’ll be entering the last year of his existing contract. Liverpool might elect to keep Mane for another season,
before selling him for free after next season, given his contract runs until June 2023. The most likely course of action,
like Bayern, did with Thiago, appears to be to accept his departure, extract the greatest transfer money available, and move on.