Liverpool, Manchester United Fail To Sign $49M Star Who Is Now In The Championship

Watford star forward Ismaila Sarr’s agent has claimed that his client was close to joining Liverpool FC in January, while he was also being chased by Manchester United.

Sarr’s representative Thierno Seydi has revealed the Watford player had asked Liverpool striker Sadio Mane, who is also Sarr’s Senegal teammate, to find him an apartment in Merseyside, Pan African Football reported. Meanwhile, Manchester United wanted to sign Sarr on loan in the summer but could not reach an agreement with Watford.

“With Liverpool, a few days ago, we were at the stage of signing the contract that would tie the Reds to Ismaila Sarr. Everything was sorted: the monthly wages and the length of the deal. I’d even asked Sadio Mane to find him an apartment. But in the end, they weren’t able to put the €40 million (£35m/$49m) on the table to finalize the deal. You have to say that if English clubs that once animated the transfer window are struggling to put funds together, that shows the depth of the crisis affecting football,” Seydi told Pan African Football.

Seydi has also mentioned that Watford rejected Manchester United’s loan bid for Sarr because the Old Trafford side had not included an option to buy in the offer.

“During the summer, they wanted to sign him. At the last moment, they offered a loan without the option to buy. Watford did not accept this because they wanted the loan to include an agreement to buy him,” Seydi added in the same interview.

The 22-year-old Sarr moved from Rennes to Watford for a club-record reported fee of $41 million. He had an impressive maiden season in the Premier League, scoring five goals in 28 appearances, and overall, he netted six goals in 30 competitive matches in his debut campaign with Watford.

Earlier, Sarr was linked with a move away from Watford following the club’s relegation from the Premier League into the second-tier English competition, The Championship. In the ongoing season, Sarr has scored five goals in as many as 24 matches in The Championship.

It was earlier reported that Manchester United and Liverpool were going neck and neck in the race to sign Sarr, who had made his senior debut at the French club Metz in 2016. Liverpool were looking at Sarr as an ideal back-up option for their talented front-three of Mohamed Salah, Mane, and Roberto Firmino.

Meanwhile, it was believed that Manchester United had earmarked Sarr as an alternative signing if the Red Devils failed to bring Jadon Sancho to Old Trafford. As it stands, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has failed to bring either of the players to Manchester.