Ronald Koeman dropped "incredible" claim on 2014 Southampton FC recruit - Liverpool exploits made him right | OneFootball

Even Koeman likely didn’t predict just how good Sadio Mane would be

Former Southampton boss Ronald Koeman called Sadio Mane’s CV “incredible” as he joined the Saints in 2014.

Given what the Senegalese forward went on to achieve with the south coast club, the Dutchman couldn’t have been much closer to the truth.

Not only that, they sold him for a significant fee a couple of years later to Liverpool, where he completed a clean sweep of major English and European trophies under Jurgen Klopp.

Incredible may be an understatement, both for the deal Southampton landed, and the player Mane became.

Koeman was right to be impressed

Mane began the 2014/15 season with former club RB Salzburg but was snapped up right at the end of the summer window by Southampton for £10m.

Their interest will have been largely piqued by the winger’s previous two seasons, which saw him record 29 goal involvements in all competitions in 2012/13, upped to a staggering 41 the season after.

Asked for his thoughts on the signing, Saints manager at the time, Koeman, said: "It is incredible how many goals he has scored from his position, and I hope that he will do the same for us."

Koeman soon had his wish granted.

Mane carried his form to Southampton

It didn’t take long for Mane to bring his creativity to England, setting up Ryan Bertrand's goal against QPR on his debut, and netting one of his own a few games later against Stoke City.

Goals against league heavyweights Chelsea and Arsenal followed later in the campaign, proving Mane was at home in the Premier League.

But his trio of goals against Aston Villa towards the end of the season truly put the icing on the cake, still holding the record for the fastest-ever hat-trick in Premier League history, netting the third goal just two minutes and 56 seconds after the first.

His 10 goals and three assists that season helped propel the Saints to an incredible seventh place in the table.

And the next season went even better – 11 goals and six assists for Mane in the Premier League, a run at Europa League qualification, and a sixth-placed league finish for the Saints.

It was time for Mane to take the next step.

It was with Liverpool Mane reached his full potential

Not only did Southampton get – to reuse Koeman’s assessment – an incredible couple of seasons from Mane, but the deal also worked perfectly in a financial sense as the Saints sold the forward for £34m; over triple what they paid two years prior.

At Anfield, Mane found his final form.

From joining in 2016 until he left for Bayern Munich in 2022, the forward recorded double figures for goals in the Premier League in every season for the Reds.

His combinations with the likes of Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino in Liverpool’s frontline during that period will go down as a legendary tale on Merseyside; a crucial component of some of the most successful years of the club’s modern history.

Koeman certainly wasn’t wrong when he called Mane incredible all those years ago, but based on his Liverpool evidence which followed, the former Saints boss may have undershot it slightly.