Man United target Sadio Mane set to leave Southampton, but not until summer

Sadio Mane expects to stay at Southampton this month despite Saturday’s show of indiscipline.

However, Sportsmail understands Mane is likely to leave St Mary’s at the end of the season.

The Senegal attacker was dropped by Ronald Koeman for the defeat at Norwich for turning up late to pre-match team meeting.

Koeman’s consequent decision to axe Mane and make public the reasons has cast further doubt on Mane’s future on the south coast.

Mane will hold crunch talks over his future with his advisors towards during the week commencing January 11.

Manchester United would take Mane this month; Bayern Munich and Chelsea have also monitored the 23-year-old in recent months.

Nevertheless, Mane believes he will stay at St Mary’s until the end of the season.

The forward has been told by club officials that Southampton will not listen to offers for him during the January transfer window.

Mane has not been informed of anything to the contrary over the past 24 hours.

An offer around the £40million mark could provoke a change of heart from Southampton; but the likelihood of such a mammoth bid seems unlikely.

Southampton want to extend Mane's contract, which expires in 2018.

But the African has resisted the temptation of a new deal and Southampton believe signing Mane to an extension is unlikely.

That means the former Red Bull Salzburg forward's future is likely to come to a head at the end of the season, when he enters the final two years of his deal.

And there is an acknowledgement that while they intend to keep Mane until the summer; he will be sold to the highest bidder ahead of next season.

Indeed, Southampton have already started looking for Mane’s long-term, a clear indication that the forward’s term at the club is drawing to a close.

Koeman is frustrated at Mane’s latest poor show of time-keeping.

The forward was dropped for last season’s clash against Liverpool at St Mary’s for an identical offence. Nevertheless, Koeman knows Mane remains an integral part of his plans for the rest of the season.