Yaya Toure has admitted that he once pushed Manchester City to try and sign Sadio Mane before the winger made the move to Liverpool.

Speaking to BBC Sport, the three-time Premier League champion revealed that he once asked higher-ups at the Manchester side to try and sign Mane, with the talks proving unsuccessful as the attacker instead joined Liverpool where he would blossom into a world-class forward.

Mane at Anfield formed one of the best attacking trios the Premier League had ever seen alongside Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, with the Senegal international leaving Liverpool last summer to join Bayern Munich in a £35m transfer.

Indeed, it’s hard to imagine Mane playing for a club like City given his incredible achievements at Liverpool. Yet according to Toure, he tried to bring the winger to Manchester having seen what he had done at Southampton. The former midfielder said: “I always wanted to play with him [Mane].

“When I was at City, at the time when he was at Southampton, I highly regarded him and I was asking some of my superiors to just sign him. But in the end, it just didn’t happen. After that Klopp had the eyes to get him and now look what he did for Liverpool, he was brilliant. I like him, I like him as a player.”

Liverpool will be glad to hear Toure’s plan to recruit Mane failed

Mane to City could have strengthened the Manchester side’s grip on English football like it has in recent seasons. And it’s a relief for Liverpool to hear that Toure’s ploy to bring the Senegal superstar to the Etihad Stadium ultimately failed.

As we know, Mane is a modern Liverpool icon having led the Reds to a UEFA Champions League and Premier League title. And there’s no way Jurgen Klopp would have found a better forward for his attacking-three than the former Saints star had he instead joined City.