Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has declared that Sadio Mane will stay at the club beyond the January transfer window amid reports of a likely exit.
The Senegalese striker has been linked with Manchester United and speculation has been fuelled further by his exclusion from the their Barclays Premier League game at Norwich City last weekend.
Manchester United have reportedly attempted to open discussion for the 23-year-old this week but the Saints have turned down the overtures and Koeman has further buttressed that the striker is “not for sale.”
Koeman insisted that the Senegalese international is happy to stay at the Saint Mary’s and also dampened speculation that the punishment of the player last weekend has unsettled him.
“What happened last week, it gave the press something to write about. Sadio’s situation is no different to last week. He is a Southampton player, he likes to play for Southampton, he is not for sale.
“We spoke to him. I punished him because we have rules in the team and he was late, it was a big mistake. He said sorry to everybody and that’s now behind us.
“The rest is just internal discussions about how we handle this kind of situation. He will start Saturday no problem,” said Koeman.
Mane, who is also attracting interests from Bayern Munich and Chelsea, has scored three goals and weighed in with six assists for Southampton in 20 league appearances this season.
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