German coach Ralf Rangnick has claimed that Liverpool were not convinced about Sadio Mane being ready to make the jump to the Premier League before he moved to Southampton.
Mane has managed to become an integral part of the Liverpool set-up since he joined the club from Southampton in the summer of 2016.
However, the Ivorian could have been at Liverpool even earlier as the Reds did take a look at him before Southampton signed him from Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg in 2014.
But Rangnick claimed that Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards was not sure about the player being ready to make the transition to the Premier League at the time.
“Michael Edwards said the player wasn’t quite ready for the step up the Premier League yet”, the German told The Athletic.
“There was something about their scouting model not being able to properly evaluate the quality of an Austrian Bundesliga player, too, if I remember correctly.”
Borussia Dortmund were also interested in Mane and he even met Jurgen Klopp for a long meeting before he decided against signing the player.
Rangnick revealed that not signing the winger at Dortmund was one of the biggest regrets in the current Liverpool manager’s coaching career.
“Kloppo once said not going for Sadio was one of his biggest mistakes”, Rangnick added.
Mane made a total of 75 appearances for Southampton, scoring 25 goals and providing 14 assists.
The Liverpool boss is now reaping the rewards of an attacking trio of Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.
