Mamadou Sakho Reveals His Future Plans And World Cup Ambition
On-loan Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho has admitted that he would be pleased to wear the Liverpool shirt in the future. Sakho, currently playing for Crystal Palace on loan, was shipped out in January and has impressed at Selhurst Park with his performances.
Now, the defender has admitted that he hasn’t given up on the hopes of making it back to the Liverpool lineup but also keeps his options open on playing for some other club.
Sakho joined Liverpool on the deadline day of 2013 summer transfer window in a £18m from Paris Saint-Germain.
He made a total of 80 appearances for Liverpool in 3 seasons, before moving to Palace a few months back. He has now made 5 appearances for Crystal Palace and seems to have found his rhythm back, which is encouraging.
Talking to Telefoot, Sakho said: “I still have three years on my Liverpool contract. If I have to wear the Liverpool shirt again, I’ll do so with pleasure. If I have to wear another shirt … we’ll see.
He described his time at Selhurst Park and said it was magnificent to see the fans cheer for them against Chelsea.
The 27-year old said: “It’s cool for me to be on the pitch. It’s magnificent. When I see the Crystal Palace fans against Chelsea. I turned round to see them, walked towards them … I don’t have words to describe it.”
Sakho was the subject of an anti-doping probe in April 2016 and was cleared by a UEFA board in July after being suspended for 30 days.
Regarding his ban, the former Paris Saint-Germain player said: “There was incomprehension, anger, because I had worked a lot. Then I said to myself, ‘C’est la vie!’
“When I saw my wife crying for three or four days, I said to myself, ‘Mamad, it’s unfair. You’re going to work. You get up at seven every morning, you work hard.’ Yes, I was the person who was there to reassure her, I didn’t have a choice. My mum said to me, ‘Mamad, do you realise that you haven’t spent as much time here since you were 13?’ That made me realise it’s true. With this job, you don’t have much time for the ‘real things.’
“I was late, that happens in every squad, I paid a fine. I don’t know what more I can do. It’s the boss, he made his decision. You have to respect it.”
Sakho also spoke about his future plans and insisted that he is aiming to play in the world cup for his national team, after missing out on Euros.
He said: “I had the objective of the Euros, I missed it, I was made to miss it. Now the World Cup is an objective. I’m only 27, I’m young, determined, with the same desire, above all the same person. You don’t change your mentality.”
It seems like Sakho is now focused on football and is beginning to settle down once again. Klopp probably did the right thing by sending him out on loan instead of letting him rot on the Liverpool bench.
Now that the player has found his focus and confidence back, it will be interesting to see if Klopp uses Sakho in the team next season.
Do you think Sakho would make his comeback in the Liverpool set-up?
