Arsenal have chance to complete 11-year Mane transfer amid Wenger 'mistake'

Bayern Munich star Sadio Mane has not had a straight forward time in Germany since moving from Liverpool last summer and Arsenal may be a viable destination for the Senegal international

Sadio Mane faces an uncertain future at Bayern Munich and the ex-Liverpool forward has been tipped to leave the German champions in the summer.

According to a report in Senegal published in 2019, via Daily Cannon, Arsenal were given the chance to sign Mane in 2012 but decided not to because he wasn’t “impressive enough”. This was just before he signed for Red Bull Salzburg at the age of 20, where he went on to score 45 goals in 87 games.

“After the Olympic Games, I offered him to Gilles Grimandi,” Mady Toure, president of the Generation Foot Academy, told APS. “A few years later, I recalled this episode to Arsene Wenger, who was managing Arsenal at the time.” A versatile defender, Grimandi joined Arsenal in 1997 from AS Monaco and later became a France-based scout for the club.

While Wenger's thoughts on the failed transfer are unclear, the former Arsenal manager is a fan of Mane and previously described Liverpool's decision to let him go as a "mistake". Speaking to BeIN Sport via Foot Mercato, the Frenchman said: “They lost Mane, who was a top player in big games.

"He had something, an aggressive attitude and determination. He would score no matter what, he would make things happen. It’s hard to measure what it takes away from them. They are missing something they had before.”