Sadio Mane makes surprise Jurgen Klopp job offer

Sadio Mane became owner of French lower league club Bourges Foot 18 in October last year and the Liverpool legend has high hopes for the team in the future. 

Club president Cheikh Sylla revealed in January that they planned for full professionalistion soon and are aiming for a place in Ligue 2 by 2030. 

There is also the intention to open an academy in Mane’s homeland of Senegal and bring players through to his new French team. 

Bourges Foot 18 currently occupy a place in the Championnat National 2 Group B, the French fourth tier, and the Senegal striker has joked that he wants outgoing Reds manager Jurgen Klopp to take over and help propel them through the leagues. 

Attending a welcome ceremony at Bourges City Hall, ahead of Senegal’s international matches this month, the 31-year-old paid tribute to his former manager. 

Mane scored 120 goals in 269 games under Klopp having first signed from Southampton for a fee rising to £36m back in 2016. 

He went on to win every major title while at Liverpool, including the Premier League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020. 

Mane departed in the summer of 2022 for Bayern Munich in a move that failed for both parties and has since moved again to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. 

Mane hails Klopp as 'living legend'

As a result of Klopp’s successes at Anfield, Mane believes his former manager has written his name in the history books. 

“He said he was leaving Liverpool? Maybe he will come here!,” he said as quoted by Foot Mercato. 

“He is someone who left his mark on world football, and personally, he contributed a lot to my progress. 

“He is a great man, a living legend, who brought a lot, a lot to Liverpool. All the work he did there will, I think, be forever engraved in the memory of all the supporters.”

Klopp will walk away from Anfield after a nine-year spell this summer and is widely expected to take a sabbatical, citing fatigue as one reason why he could not continue in his role.