Claim Lionel Messi requested signing of Liverpool player – Club ‘directly’ engaged in talks, Reds out up wall

With Senegal winning the Africa Cup of Nations, most of the attention is going to Liverpool star Sadio Mane, who was named Player of the Tournament.

With the winger reaching another peak in his career, there are many stories to be told about him, and an interesting one comes from Ser Catalunya.

According to journalist Sique Rodriguez (via Fichajes), La Liga giants Barcelona had been heavily interested in signing Mane from the Reds last summer.

The reason for that is because his arrival was one of the conditions that Lionel Messi asked in exchange for his stay at the Camp Nou. The Argentine star demanded a more competitive squad and the Senegalese player was apparenrtly on his wishlist.

It’s said Barcelona ‘directly’ engaged in talks with Mane’s entourage. However, Liverpool closed the door and didn’t want to sell the player, who has a contract at Anfield until 2023.

That’s said to be one of the factors which led Messi to choose to leave Barcelona after nearly an entire career at the club, leaving the Camp Nou side for Paris Saint Germain.

it’s a nice story, whether it’s true or not is another thing entirely.