Sadio Mane has edged closer to a Liverpool exit with fresh talks with Bayern Munich over a potential transfer set to take place.
The Reds have already rejected two bids for the Senegalese, with the Bundesliga outfit first making a £25m approach before offering an overall £30m package for the forward.
However, with that bid only worth an initial £23.5m, and with Liverpool only standing to bank the full total if Bayern won the Champions League in all three of the seasons they want Mane to sign up for, as well as the player winning the Ballon d'Or for three consecutive years, club bosses were left bemused and considered such clauses as laughable.
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But while a third bid has not yet been placed, it seems only a matter of time before a suitable offer for the 30-year-old is lodged after a Bayern delegation, including their sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, flew to England. The ECHO understands face-to-face talks with the Reds are scheduled to take place on Friday and heading into the weekend in an attempt to thrash out a deal.
Liverpool are holding out for a deal worth closer to £42.5m for Mane. He has one year left on his contract at Anfield but it has become apparent he wishes to move on having not engaged in talks over an extension.
The Reds will only listen to bids with guarantees they will receive payment in full rather than through fanciful add-ons, with Bayern’s effort to hold face-to-face talks showing their desire to find a compromise.
Reports in Germany claim Mane has already agreed personal terms with the Munich outfit, while having bought Darwin Nunez for a potential club-record £85m, Liverpool have already signed a replacement as Jurgen Klopp plans for the 2022/23 season without one of his key men.
Mane joined the Reds from Southampton in a £35m deal in the summer of 2016 and has scored 120 goals in 269 appearances during his six seasons at the club, winning the Premier League, Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, European Super Cup, FA Cup and League Cup along the way.
