Crystal Palace are the latest club to enter the race to sign Mamadou Sakho, as the out-of-favour Liverpool defender looks for a way out of Anfield.
The Daily Mail have reported that Crystal Palace have joined the race to sign Liverpool outcast Mamadou Sakho, with the Premier League relegation battlers the latest in the line of clubs who have shown interest to sign the French defender.
It hasn’t taken long for Sakho to go from hero to zero at Anfield. The Frenchman was one of the most highly rated young defenders in the world when he sealed the move to Liverpool in 2013, as he made a name for himself at PSG by rising up the ranks and establishing himself as the club captain at a tender age of 17.
The move to Anfield proved to be fruitful as Sakho quickly established himself to be a key figure for Brendan Rodgers in the heart of the Liverpool defence. Even after Rodgers’ sacking in 2015, Sakho continued to be a regular under the now-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
However, it was not long before the French centre-back became controversy’s favourite child as he was suspended for 30 days by UEFA for failing a drug test. He was cleared of all the charges later, but trouble was still by his side.
Sakho came into trouble thrice and was sent back home from Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the Unites States, as he delayed the squad’s departure from England, missed a training session and then chose to not turn up at a team dinner.
The worst was still to come though, as a couple of months later, Sakho went on a social media rant expressing his displeasure at being dropped from the first team. Suffice to say, he has not featured in Jurgen Klopp’s plans this season and was banished to train and play for the clubs under-23 team.
Earlier this month, reports claimed that Liverpool will demand a fee of £20 million for Sakho after deciding to sell the Frenchman, with Sevilla, Lille and Southampton among the clubs that had registered an interest in signing the centre-back.
And now, Palace have joined the race for his signature, with manager Sam Allardyce keen to make widespread improvements to the squad at his disposal in order retain their top flight status for next season.
The former England manager has already confirmed the club’s interest in Arsenal defender Carl Jenkinson and it looks like Big Sam could make two defensive signings in the January transfer window. So, with Sakho recently being barred from playing for the under-23 team as well, he could soon be on his way out of Anfield and possibly to Selhurst Park.
