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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Charlie Bennett

Sadio Mane issues three-word response when asked if he would join Newcastle after leaving Liverpool

One year after leaving Liverpool to join Bayern Munich, Sadio Mane is being linked with a move back to the Premier League.

After a promising start to his Bayern career, Mane suffered an injury in November that ruled him out for more than three months and meant that he missed the World Cup with Senegal.

And it got worse from there. On his return to action, he scored just once in his final 15 appearances of the campaign and he was suspended and fined following reports he punched team-mate Leroy Sane.

The squabble took place after Bayern’s 3-0 Champions League defeat to Manchester City and piled more misery onto an underwhelming debut campaign. Since arriving at the Allianz Arena, Mane, tasked with replacing Robert Lewandowski, has only scored seven Bundesliga goals.

Taking until the final day of the campaign to win the league title was viewed as a disaster for Bayern. And consequently they are planning a summer shake-up. As well as Mane, Serge Gnabry has also been linked with a potential move.

READ MORE: Liverpool's ideal transfer window with £50m swoop and Real Madrid surprise

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A report by German outlet Bild earlier this month linked Mane with a dream return to Anfield. The suggestion was that Bayern would consider a cut-price fee for the 31-year-old despite paying £35million for his services just one year ago.

While re-signing the forward may prove popular with some Reds supporters, it is unlikely that Jurgen Klopp thinks the same. The German has already replaced his former star by signing Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.

Mane, who finished second to Karim Benzema in the 2022 Ballon d'Or standings, has also been linked to the Reds' Premier League rivals Newcastle United and Chelsea. It's also been reported that he has the chance to join Benzema in Saudi Arabia.

Bizarrely, a former British MEP has hooked up with Mane at an EITI International conference in Senegal. Martin Callanan, originally from Newcastle and now a life peer in the House of Lords, urged the ex-Liverpool favourite to join his boyhood club.

“I’m in Senegal speaking at ⁦the EITI⁩ conference,” he tweeted. “Honoured to meet ⁦Sadio Mane in the hotel. I couldn’t resist asking him about coming to Newcastle next season. His enigmatic reply: ‘Never say never!’”

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