Premier League giants Manchester United have turned their attention to Southampton star Sadio Mane after their failure to land Pedro Rodriguez at the Old Trafford this summer.
It has been reported that Louis van Gaal has asked Ed Woodward to make inquiries with the Saints over the availability of 23-year-old Senegal international, and the Red Devils have also launched a bid worth £15m to snap him up.
However, Ronald Koeman's side have made it clear that Mane wouldn't be sold.
"Mane is a key part of our team and our planning for the future," said a source inside the club. "He wouldn't be sold."
The club officials have also denied the fact that United have launched the bid.
It is however believed that Southampton have asked for atleast around £25m from the Red Devils for the transfer of the player, and United are also confident that they can successfully land him at Old Trafford this summer.
The Daily Mail has also stated that even the Senegalese is interested in the move to United, and negotiations are expected to step up between the two sides over the coming days.
Mane is best-known for scoring the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history. The winger – who joined Southampton only last season – scored thrice in a span of 176 seconds, as the Saints went on to hand a 6-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the 2014/15 season.
He has played full 90 minutes in both the Premier League games for the Saints in the 2015/16 season so far, and has also scored once in two of the Saints' Europa League qualifier games this season.
The 23-year-old was one of the star players for his side last season as he scored 10 times from 30 Premier League appearances. He also picked up four assists as Southampton finished seventh in the English top flight last season.
It will be interesting to see in the coming days whether Mane is indeed the player who can fill the void left by Angel di Maria this season.
Pedro was mooted to be a like-for-like replacement for Di Maria at United, but the Spaniard is now certain to join Chelsea.
Having said that, the presence of a player like Mane in the United roster can only increase competition in the already-bolstered attacking line of Manchester United.
Even Bayern Munich star Thomas Muller is another Man Utd target this summer. And with reports coming in that the Red Devils have launched a fresh £59.8m bid for the player, it can only get interesting with just less than two weeks left for the summer transfer window to shut.
