Bayern set to table improved £42.5m bid for Mane

 

Sadio Mane is on the verge of sealing a move to Bayern Munich with the club preparing an improved offer in line with Liverpool’s £42.5m valuation.

A fresh round of discussions between all parties has been pencilled in for Friday with Hasan Salihamidzic, the sporting director of the German champions, determined to wrap up a deal for their priority target.

Bayern have been confident of landing the Senegal international having received a verbal commitment from him last month. They believed it enabled them to pull off a cut-price deal, especially considering the Darwin Nunez development.

The Bundesliga club also pointed to their ‘soft’ negotiations with Liverpool for Thiago, selling the midfielder for an initial £20m with a potential £5m in add-ons.

Their rebuffed opening proposals for Mane were similar – £25m and £23.5m with £6.5m in unlikely extras – despite his availability, explosiveness, and guaranteed decisiveness in the final third demanding a higher fee.

It has now dawned on Bayern that despite their strong hand and the fact Liverpool have already recruited a replacement in Nunez, they will need to submit a serious bid that matches the asking price.

The Anfield side want to recoup their £34m outlay on Mane when he joined from Southampton in the summer of 2016, plus a small profit.

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Liverpool feel £42.5m is an overly reasonable figure for a Ballon d’Or candidate in the final year of his contract.

Sadio Mane said he will do what the people want when responding to an online poll in Senegal which said 60-70 per cent of people want him to leave Liverpool

The club prides themselves on selling well but do not want to be an obstacle to players seeking a new challenge that have served them superbly.

Mane has been core to the club’s success over the past six seasons so will depart with their blessing and gratitude.