Why Sadio Mane Is the Southampton Player Manchester United Would Love to Have

That Sadio Mane lines up for Southampton against Manchester United on Sunday is supposedly contrary to the wishes of Louis van Gaal and his club.

Late in the summer transfer window, following Pedro's move to Chelsea, United "made a shock inquiry" for Mane, per James Orr of the Independent.

Writing for ESPN FC, Alex Crook reported that "Saints made it clear they had no intention of allowing the Senegalese speedster to follow Luke Shaw and Morgan Schneiderlin to Old Trafford."

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As an interesting side note, he also suggested "United's attempts to unsettle Mane by making their interest known to the north-west media did little to sooth the far from harmonious relationship between former colleagues [Ronald] Koeman and Van Gaal."

Ancient Dutch feuds aside, though, it is easy to see why Van Gaal wanted to add Mane to his lineup. In 2014/15 he managed 10 goals in 30 Premier League appearances—24 of them as a starter. That is a decent rather than spectacular return, but it was just two goals behind Southampton's leading scorer, Graziano Pelle.

Indeed, it represented almost a fifth of Southampton's total league goals—not bad for a player who often played off the front-man rather than as a line-leading centre forward.

Had Van Gaal signed him, he may well have found himself playing as the right-forward in a 4-3-3 formation. So far this season, that has been Juan Mata's spot for all bar the game against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday where Mata played at No. 10 with Ashley Young and Memphis Depay alternating right-wing duties.

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With Wayne Rooney lined up to play as centre-forward in the pre-season plan, a versatile forward was more appealing to Van Gaal and United than an out-and-out No. 9. Someone who could cover for Rooney when injured but who could also have a role in the side with Rooney present.

Of course, late in the window, United did buy a player who roughly fit that profile. It would be intriguing to know whether they would still have pursued the signature of Anthony Martial if they had got Mane.

It seems logical that they would still have done so as the squad as it stands could really benefit from another versatile, creative goalscorer, even with Martial around.

Mane in an important player for Southampton. As well as his 10 goals last season, he also provided three assists, averaging 1.3 key passes per game. While he is yet to score in the league so far this season—though he did score for Senegal on international duty—he is already well on the way to overtaking last season's assist total, having provided two in the five games he has played. 

His key-pass average this season is currently at 1.4 per game. Only Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney in the United side are currently beating that. Last season only Mata, Rooney and Angel Di Maria averaged more key passes per game for United than Mane did for Southampton.

Mane is also a player who likes to run with the ball—the average of two dribbles per league game he made last season exceeds any United player, including Di Maria. That kind of directness could be useful for United's attack, given they so often find themselves up against deep-lying defences.

Of course, the former Southampton player whom United really wish could line up for them in this game is a player who is on their books. Luke Shaw's injury has come as a huge blow to the Red Devils whose back four have looked settled and effective for much of the season.

It will be intriguing to see how they cope without him. Not being up against Mane, and having a player of his speed and ability in their own starting line up would be a help.

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After his spectacular debut, few United fans would swap Martial for Lionel Messi, let alone Mane. Perhaps that is a slight exaggeration, but still, if getting Mane had meant missing out on Martial it may not have been worth doing.

However, with United's attacking resources spread thin and often ineffective, Mane would have been an asset to the Red Devils. As the season progresses, United fans will hope that Rooney, Memphis, Martial and Mata can score enough goals that they are not left ruing yet another name on the list of the ones that got away.

All advanced statistics per WhoScored.com