Sadio Mane is one of the names at the top of Zinedine Zidane's transfer target list ahead of a vital summer at Real Madrid.
The reigning European champions face ten games of drudgery in La Liga, with nothing to play for as they sit 12 points behind Barcelona; out of the Champions League and Copa del Rey, and thoughts have already turned to the summer's transfer business after Zidane took over from Santiago Solari this month.
🇸🇳 Sadio Mane's 17 #PL goals in 2018/19 are the most in a single season by any Senegalese player
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 17, 2019
To celebrate, enjoy these fine strikes by Mane and his compatriots pic.twitter.com/5eqv3E6KJx
France Football report that Liverpool star Mane was at the top of Zidane's wishlist before he departed the Bernabeu unexpectedly last summer, and that the Frenchman wants the Senegal international to bolster his team's misfiring forward line.
Zidane's return to Los Blancos has been a gift for the internet's transfer rumourmongers, with the club being linked with billions of pounds worth of talent in the eight days since he was reappointed to the top job in the Spanish capital.
It would be reasonable to doubt the veracity of the majority of those stories, particularly those originating from Spanish headline-grabbers like Don Balon and El Chiringuito, but Zidane and Real's long-term interest in Mane is not a new rumour.
⚽️ Sadio Mane for Liverpool, last 2 seasons:
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) March 17, 2019
17/18 - 20 goals in 44 apps
18/19 - 20 goals in 38 apps
(No penalties scored in either season) pic.twitter.com/QWlTSzSDhk
Whether they'll be able to prise the Liverpool star away from Merseyside, of course, is a different matter entirely. Mane will have another four years left on his Reds contract at the end of the season, and Real's mild financial restraints mean that they will have to allocate their resources carefully in the transfer window to regenerate all the necessary areas of the squad.
Source: 90min