Liverpool turn down Bayern’s “comical” offer for Mané

It looks like Sadio Mané has played his final game for Liverpool and will spend next season in Germany. Diario AS reported a couple of weeks ago that the Senegalese forward has decided that it’s time to move on and is close to joining Bayern Munich. He has an agreement with the Bundesliga champions but has yet to be given the green light to leave by his current employers, who won’t be releasing him on the cheap.

According to The Times, Liverpool have turned down a second offer from Bayern, for 35 million euros - including variables. It’s a slight improvement on the first offer - 30 million including add-ons, but that was rejected out of hand by the Reds, who would only be willing to listen to offers of around the 50 million mark. Despite being one of the favourites to end up on the podium for this year’s Ballon d’Or, Mané has just a year to run on his contract with Liverpool and that affects his market value. Mané would be able to leave Anfield on a free transfer next year, leaving Liverpool without any transfer fee at all. That obliges the Champions League runners-up to find some middle ground with Bayern over striking a deal this summer.

Negotiations are set to continue until that happens. As far as Liverpool are concerned, Bayern’s initial offers have been nothing short of “comical”. One area where there isn’t any discussion is Mané's salary, which according to Bild, will be around 20 million euros gross per year - 10 million after tax. That’s an improvement on what the player has been taking home at Liverpool - around 7 million.

Problematic poll

After their initial disappointment about Mané’s desire to leave, many Reds fans were not too happy to hear the player admit to being swayed by the influence of social media, claiming that 60-70% of his compatriots back home in Senegal wanted him to leave Liverpool. That has gone down like a lead balloon on Merseyside, with supporters saying it smacks of ingratitude. While they understand his wish to leave, they say that his fellow countrymen have perhaps forgotten that the money that Mané used to build a school and hospital back in his homeland came directly from the wages which LFC have paid him during the past six years.