According to the latest reports, Premier League giants Liverpool are quite confident on keeping hold of star forward Sadio Mane in the upcoming summer transfer window amid interest from La Liga side Real Madrid. The Senegalese attacker has been in sublime form for Liverpool since the turn of the year and these impressive displays have caught the eye of Los Blancos.
When Cristiano Ronaldo made a move from Real Madrid to Juventus back in the summer of 2018 for a transfer fee of £100m, it sent shock waves around the footballing world. The 34-year-old winger spent nine seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu and became the club’s all-time top goalscorer with 450 goals. Ronaldo’s departure left a massive void at Real Madrid and the Spanish giants have suffered plenty ever since this season.
Ronaldo had helped Real Madrid to three consecutive Champions League trophies in his last three seasons at Madrid but Los Blancos has been struggling to adapt to life after the Portuguese ace left for Serie A giants Juventus last summer. Madrid is currently sitting in third place in the La Liga table, 13 points behind fierce rivals and leaders Barcelona. The league title already seems virtually over and the Catalonian giants also dumped Real Madrid out of the Copa Del Rey across two legs earlier this month. Real Madrid were also humiliated in the Champions League when a pool of youngsters from Dutch side Ajax knocked the holders out of the competition in their own backyard in a humiliating 4-1 defeat. Real Madrid then sacked their second coach of the season as Santiago Solari couldn’t fit in the boot and Los Blancos reappointed Zinedine Zidane to take charge of the club once again.
Mane to Madrid?
However, the Frenchman is probably preparing for a massive summer haul and is trying to recruit some top players in the upcoming summer transfer window to bolster his side. One player who has been absolutely brilliant since the start of this year has been Liverpool’s, Sadio Mane. Zidane has reportedly asked the Real Madrid transfer board if they can sign the 26-year-old superstar, who has been dazzling for Jurgen Klopp’s Reds. With nine goals in his last nine games, Mane has been instrumental in keeping Liverpool’s title hopes alive this term and the Senegalese have also scored a superb brace against Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich to help Liverpool into the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Today’s front page from Marca: Liverpool have no intention of selling Sadio Mane, one of the most important players in their squad. There are no loopholes in his contract that Real Madrid could exploit. The interest simply shows how good Mane has become 🔴 pic.twitter.com/wZU4LwxyER
— Dominic King (@DominicKing_DM) March 25, 2019
Liverpool currently sit at the summit of the Premier League table, two points ahead of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. City still have a game in hand which means that the English title race could just go down to the last game of the season. The Merseyside club will be desperate to keep hold of their star players to challenge City on a season-by-season basis but with interest from European heavyweights, that will be difficult.
Liverpool are still confident of keeping Sadio Mane at Anfield as he recently signed a contract extension with Liverpool and Real Madrid would have to pay a hefty sum to bring him to the Spanish capital.
