Talks progressing in Bayern Munich’s pursuit of Liverpool star Sadio Mane

The rumor seems to have popped out of thin air in recent weeks, but Liverpool's Sadio Mane has been linked with a potential move to Bayern Munich this summer. 

The Senegalese winger has been with Liverpool since joining from Southampton in the summer of 2016 and has been one of the most important attacking players in Jurgen Klopp's side. He's scored 120 goals for the Reds and has provided a total of 48 assists from 268 appearances across all competitions. Bayern Munich fans will unfortunately remember his contribution to the Champions League round of 16 second leg at the Allianz Arena, a match in which Mane scored twice and Liverpool won 3-1.

Per a new update from Sky Sport's Florian Plettenberg, Mane himself could very much imagine a move to Bayern this summer. He also reports that there has been progression in talks between Mane's representatives and Bayern. It had come out at the beginning of the month that Mane was Hasan Salihamidzic's number one target for a “statement transfer” this summer as Bayern is preparing to potentially lose Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona.

Both Salihamidzic and Julian Nagelsmann — allegedly — really want Mane to join Bayern and his current contract at Liverpool is set to expire next summer, so they might be able to realistically get him this summer for 50-million euros or less. His ability to also play as a false 9 or center forward is part of what makes him so desirable for Bayern, especially under the assumption that Lewandowski will eventually leave for Barcelona. VfB Stuttgart's Sasa Kalajdzic has also been heavily linked as a potential Lewandowski replacement as a more out and out striker, but he doesn't quite match the stature of a player like Mane.

As Plettenberg reports, the next 3-4 weeks will be a crucial period in Bayern's attempts to try to persuade Mane to come to Munich this summer. Mane and Liverpool are prepping for the Champions League final against Real Madrid set to take place at the Stade de France in Paris this weekend after just narrowly missing out on the Premier League title to Manchester City. Liverpool was on the verge of (potentially) completing a historic treble, but regardless, the Champions League dust will likely have to settle before discussions start to progress even further than they already have.