Manchester United vs. Newcastle: Time, Channel, Odds

United made an offer for the Senegalese attacker last week, with Premier League rivals Chelsea stealing a march on the chase for Barcelona winger Pedro.

Manchester United could be about to complete one of the more surprising moves of the summer, after the Daily Telegraph reported that they had been in contact with Southampton about a possible deal for Sadio Mane.

With rumours rife in Germany that a bid had been made for Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller, perhaps this was the reason that Louis van Gaal had allowed Pedro to head to Chelsea?

The Senegal international scored 10 goals for the club in all competitions last season.

In fact, the BBC are reporting that United have lodged an unspecified bid for Mane this afternoon…

Mane enjoyed a successful year at Southampton last term but United’s interest in the player was unknown until now.

Mane certainly has talent but United fans may be concerned that he is yet to prove himself at the highest level.

Southampton signed Mane from Red Bull Salzburg last summer for £10million.

Nevertheless, he displayed that those goalscoring instincts had not disappeared, bagging ten strikes in the top flight, and breaking the record for the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history during the 6-1 thrashing of Aston Villa.

Sources at Old Trafford claim Van Gaal decided to abandon a bid to sign the Canary Islander after doubts emerged regarding whether he wanted to move to the 20-time English champions.