Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has suggested that Mamadou Sakho could still have a future at Anfield when his loan deal at Crystal Palace expires in the summer.
What’s the word?
Sakho joined Palace on a temporary contract until the end of the season on transfer deadline day last month.
Sky Sports reported that the Reds were hoping to sell him for £20m before the window closed, but they settled for a loan instead.
The French defender has not played for Liverpool since last April just before he was suspended by FIFA for failing a drug test.
The case was eventually dropped by the world governing body, but Sakho failed to get back into Klopp’s squad after he was sent home from the club’s pre-season tour for breaching team rules.
The centre-back has not played a single minute of first-team football this season, and Klopp seemed to be the driving force behind it, particularly as he kept Sakho out of contention despite having problems in defence.
While facing the media in Thursday’s press conference, the Liverpool boss surprised some by suggesting that Sakho cold return.
The German coach told reporters:
“Who knows what [happens] in half a year? We felt already what changed in one month, so there’s another five to go. I think he should concentrate on the job at Crystal Palace, we should concentrate on what we are doing here.
“In this moment, he is on loan and that means he still has a contract at Liverpool. That’s a solution for the moment and we can wait for new impressions and then see what happens. That’s nothing I think in this moment about.”
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Is Sakho’s return realistic?
At this moment it is difficult to see a way back for the defender, and he may not even want to return given that he was shunned to the Under-23s at the start of the season.
While we do not know the entire truth of what happened behind closed doors, it was obviously big enough for Klopp to send him into exile.
Usually when that happens, the exit door is the only option for the player, but if Sakho impresses at Palace and Liverpool still have defensive problems, perhaps he could be welcomed back.
Some supporters did not understand why the club offloaded him in the first place because of the team’s leaky defence.
Let’s not forget, even though he was erratic at times, he was a regular member of the team for large parts of last season.
It is likely, though, that Sakho’s time at Liverpool has come to an end.
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