It’s fair to say that, as many predicted he would, Mamadou Sakho has left Jurgen Klopp looking rather silly.
The centre-back moved to Crystal Palace in January as the result of a falling out with the Liverpool boss.
The France international is the archetypal no-nonsense defender, and it’s no coincidence that since he arrived at Selhurst Park, the Eagles’ fortunes have been turning around.
Sadly, Klopp did not dispense with him because of his abilities as a footballer, but rather as a matter of principle.
Sakho broke a number of rules, and then publicly disputed his manager’s version of events on Snapchat.
However, he should have no problems finding a new club when his loan spell in London runs out.
The Telegraph report that Southampton are already bracing themselves for a Chelsea raid on Virgil Van Dijk, hence why they in turn are interested in Sakho.
Chelsea are set to offer the Saints a British record fee for a defender, in the region of £50million. That just beats the £47.5million Man City paid Everton for John Stones last year.
Sakho isn’t going to cost anywhere near that kind of money, which means Claude Puel’s side should make a tidy profit.
More importantly, he should be able to fill the gaping hole in their defence left by Van Dijk.
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