Southampton have informed Sadio Mane that he won’t be leaving the club in January, despite considerable heavyweight interest in his services.
According to the Mirror, the Senegalese’s suitors—including Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich—will get the chance to recruit the attacker in 2016, but will have to wait until the summer.
At the end of the season, the report continues, Saints will hold something of an ‘auction’ for the player’s services, with the highest bidder of the three European giants set to secure the future of the explosive attacker.
Of the three, United appear the keenest to sign the West African star. Not only are the Red Devils short in offensive areas, following the struggles of summer additions Memphis Depay and Anthony Martial to assert themselves, but they’ve also made concrete attempts to sign that forward, with the Mirror reporting that a £30 million bid to sign Mane has been rejected by Saints.
Having been forced to wait, United now face the very real possibility of being gazumped by Chelsea or Bayern during a bidding war in the summer.
It remains to be seen whether the player will accept his fate, or whether he will push for a January move, having already been criticised by Ronald Koeman for a supposed lack of discipline during the transfer window [Daily Mail].
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