Chelsea join Manchester United in race for Southampton forward Sadio Mane

Chelsea and Bayern Munich have emerged surprise competitors to sign Sadio Mane from Southampton, amid interest from Manchester United. The Blues are looking to spend in January in a bid to turn their season around, which has them flirting with relegation and drop out of contention for the title.

The Mirror reports that Mane will have talks with the management over his situation at the club at the moment, with the 23-year-old falling out with manager Ronald Koeman for failing to attend a meeting on time. As a result the Senegalese forward was left out of the starting eleven against Norwich where the Saints lost 1-0, a performance in stark contrast to their 4-0 bludgeoning of Arsenal at the St Mary's on Boxing Day.

United are ready to complete the deal in January, but Southampton want Mane to sign a new contract, which the forward is resisting, as it will allow them to price him at £30m ($44m). Interest from the likes of Bayern and Chelsea will make United even more desperate to complete the transfer as soon as possible, with Louis van Gaal having earmarked the player to alleviate their attacking woes up front.

Southampton are desperate to hold on to Mane for at least until the end of the season, with two years still left in his contract. The Red Devils are ready to spend big in January to assist the likes of Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney, who have found goals hard to come by this season.

The Frenchman has managed eight goals in all competitions, the same as Rooney, who has only three goals in the league, with his latest coming against Swansea City at Old Trafford. The Red Devils managed to break their woeful run of eight games without a win in all competitions against the Swans, which saw them keep pace with the top four.