Mamadou Sakho’s Anfield misery could soon come to a premature end with writer Tom Hopkinson writing in the Sunday People that both West Ham and Leicester City keen on acquiring the services of the tough-tackling Frenchman in January.
The world came crumbling down on Mamadou Sakho after he was banned from playing on account of suspicious drug usage in April. Despite subsequently being cleared by UEFA, he was sent home from Liverpool’s tour of the United States of America by Jurgen Klopp for failing to abide by the club’s rules and is yet to appear for his club in the current season.
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Sakho, who began his footballing journey with Paris Saint-Germain has had numerous disciplinary issue since he was of a very young age. However, his abilities as a defender meant that he managed to remain a critical part of the clubs he was involved with, irrespective of his semi-maverick nature.
Sakho has been one of the top left-sided Centre-backs in Europe and provides his team with a defensive bedrock to build their attack upon. A defender who can be equally effective in the air as well as on the ground, the player can also launch attacks from deep and was believed to be among the leaders at the club until he was sent back home from the pre-season tour.
While he has been able to get away with his disciplinary issues in the past, that has not been the case under Klopp, who has frozen him out of the first team and is showing no signs of bringing him back into the fold. With the central pairing of Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip doing well thus far, the manager has not been forced to dig deeper into his defensive resources and Sakho continues to be sidelined.
However, with West Ham and Leicester, both interested, we believe the Merseyside club would be more than willing to let go of the French-man in a bid to recoup the majority of the £18 million that they paid to acquire his services from PSG.
The mentioned clubs currently sit in the 16th and the 13th spot currently and their drastic slide down the league table could largely be attributed to their defensive inabilities. With both the clubs seeking defensive muscle in order to replicate their glorious performances of the last season, Sakho could prove to be a valuable addition to their units.
A regular French international, Sakho not only brings with him defensive muscle, but also years of experience and a winning mentality. However, it remains to be seen if the concerned manager would be willing to place a bet on a player, who despite being immensely talented, is a proven trouble maker.
