12 Aug 2013

'I have to play' - BR wants unhappy €13m star who is 'flattered' by LFC interest

In March, Paris St. Germain star Mamadou Sakho publicly revealed his frustration with being 'third choice' at the club, and after being dropped by the France national team, Sakho reportedly wants to leave PSG, and Liverpool are allegedly considering a move for the powerful defender.

Speaking to L'Equipe earlier this year, 6'2 Sakho admitted that he'd 'finally come to accept' that his time at PSG is over, and bemoaned his slip down the pecking order. He said:

"In the mind of the PSG coach, I'm the third choice, and I do not understand it.

"I have to play at club level to qualify for the France team. Next season will be important.

"It's been a difficult year and a half for me at PSG. To continue my progress, I must be playing."


Well, France boss Didier Deschamps did not select Sakho for this week's friendly with Belgium, and according to French newspaper Le Parisien, this is the straw that broke the camel's back. The paper reports that:

* Sakho demanded a meeting with Olivier Letang, PSG's sporting director, to discuss the possibility of a transfer.

* Liverpool made contact with Sakho during the January transfer window, and the club has now reignited its interest.

When asked in July about the possibility of a move to Anfield €13m-rated Sakho told reporters:

"I am flattered by the interest of historic clubs like Liverpool and AC Milan. We will see what happens in the near future.”

Discussing Sakho's future recently, PSG boss Laurent Blanc dropped a big hint that the powerful defender is on his way out of PSG. He told L'Equipe:

"When a player [Sakho] wants to move clubs you have to offer an argument that makes him want to stay. You also have to look at what his status is in the team. If that status lauwon't change, what can you say?"

Clearly, Blanc is suggesting here that Sakho is unlikely to move up the PSG pecking order next season, and that means only one thing: the defender is likely to leave.

23-year old Sakho fits FSG's 'buy 'em young' profile, and having watched him play many times (I follow Ligue One), he's a speedy, powerful, top class central defender, and that's exactly what Liverpool need.

Rodgers confirmed last month that he still intends to sign at least one defender before the transfer window ends, and given the Reds' depserate need for a new central defender, this deal is a no-brainer, surely?





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67 comments:

  1. liverpool4life5658:33 pm, August 12, 2013

    If he available then we should make a offer, then get rid of skrtel and Coates. Then have Toure,agger,sahko,papadopoulous :-)x

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  2. Jamie, what do you think about the prospect of selling suarez and skrtel for 50m and signing papdoplous,eriksen and muriel ? names that do not go away

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  3. But i dont think we necessary neeed eriksen , rodgers confirmed coutinho is gonna play behind the striker , so in midfield we have coutinho,gerrard,lucas,allen,henderson and alberto , it looks pretty packed

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  4. this guy at least has pace.....jury is out on papa not a fan of signing players coming off big injuries especially at the prices mooted

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  5. Sakho would be a great addition, Arsenal and Monaco are also in for him, hope the dreaded no CL, does'nt bite us again.

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  6. When I watch French football I see plenty of players that I think would improve the Liverpool first team, for fractions of the amounts we've been wasting elsewhere in recent years...

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  7. im gonna stick my neck out say sell agger skirtal and coates and get this guy with toby and eriksen

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  8. Changing two starting CBs though this close to the start of the season could be a bit dodge though. Still i like the look of him and we do need to freshen up the CB partnership, let skyrtel go to Naploi if they're still interested.

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  9. Skrtel and suerez should at least bring 65 million and thethree you mentioned should never be more than 40 all together

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  10. liverpool4life5659:21 pm, August 12, 2013

    Le Parsien have said sahko has had contact with liverpool and Monaco :) seems positive if true

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  11. That is why we have not signed the greek player yet.


    His price is way to steep. The price has even made the likes of Chelsea bark at it.

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  12. liverpool4life5659:22 pm, August 12, 2013

    Agree, and papadopoulous when fully fit is a beast of a CB which would make us better. And I'm sure BR would it him on a fitness plan as he has with Gerrard and agger and Lucas.

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  13. Now this is the sort of transfer targets we should be looking at. Snap him up Rodgers before someone else does!

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  14. He's the one player I want us to sign the most this window- Great Strength and versatile enough to cover at LB as well, I would be over the moon if we managed to bring him in!

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  15. 3 at the back Sakho,Toure,Agger with Johnson & a similar type on the left as wingbacks playing a 3-5-2 would be quite a solid set up IMO.

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  16. Three at the back would be suicide mate but i respect your view. It's one of them formations that sound better than they actually are. It's like the diamond formation in midfield, sounds good but just doesn't work imo.

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  17. Trying to predict LFC signings is hard.When the season finished and we all had a list of names in mind that would help us shoot up the table.Did anyone think LUIS ALBERTO,TOURE and ASPAS?
    We're helped by the crumbs of information that gets leaked by desperate agents about supposed interest.But we usually get names that don't show on radar,ASSAIDI, BORINI and the names above being examples of that.
    MAMADOU SAKHO looks good from the limited times i've seen him play.He would improve our defense but my money would be on MONACO to outbid us and seal the deal with a stupid weekly wage!

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  18. Agree. If LFC were used to playing 3 at the back over a number of season it might be a different story, but to just start using the formation out of the blue on a regular basis - with players who don't know each other yet - would indeed be suicide.

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  19. Arguably he is now 4th choice, as they've signed Marquinhos. Anyhoo, can cover left back as well. Would be a good signing if he came on the cheap, as the potential seems to be there to be a very good player, even if he isn't top class yet.

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  20. Man U tried it last year and quickly reverted back wish they didn't haha

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  21. I'd personally keep Skrtel and just get rid of Coates. Coates doesn't look good enough even tho he's not had a fair chance to shine. Agger, Toure, Skrtel and hopefully Sahko is as good as any in the premiership imo.

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  22. I've been harping for us to buy him for a while now. Would be, imo, the perfect compliement to Agger's game in defence. I'm really hope BR pushes this through and makes both of our days!

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  23. But KD and steve clarke used it to great effect early on, during their time at LFC, particularly the first time we faced Torres' chelsea.

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  24. You could have played two at the back against Torres and he wouldn't have scored ;-) Did they stick with it? Where did they get us? I can remember about two games we played that system and the fact we didn't stick with it shows it doesn't work.

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  25. I 100% agree with you.. His physicality would also help on those occurances where we were bullied by big strikers in lesser teams that we should have won against i.e Stoke, Villa and WBA! I wanted us to sign Amorebieta on a free earlier this year as well.. Would have been a fantastic bargain! Bit narked he went to Fulham haha!

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  26. Roberto Martinez loves the 3-5-2 formation.


    Everton are going to leak goals this season!

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  27. Agreed.. We used it a couple of times this year and though it looks exciting playing a formation like that, even though we did get the results, we often looked a bit shaky, ..

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  28. Yer I agree with you about skrtel and coates and get Sanko papadopoulous . But why not also add Luiz Gustavo Diego contento and Xherdan Shaqiri. Contento would be loan players . after the sale of players these will be massive editions

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  29. That change to the 3 man defence during the run-in was probably what saved Wigan from relegation in 11/12. I think he did it again last season but I guess he didn't have the element of surprise this time round

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  30. i thought all clubs got a extra 30m off bt tv deal,but carroll and downing sold and 9m in wages plus 22.5m in cash plus aspas,alberto, and gk.simon are on say low wages and jw henry wants more i think we might finish 6th but celtic beat us and they have a ltd budget so its just about finish above everton and with joe allen in the team hendo sold next who knows were we might end up and brendan might end up on soccer saturday

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  31. Better than Papadopulous??

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  32. All,

    I have a simple question: who is better defenseman:
    1. Cissoko
    2. Squeira
    3. Sakho

    And why.......

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  33. I'd be jolly if we signed Sakho, but I'd hope LFC goes in for the Ajax duo because again Tottenham are in for them.

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  34. Get him!!!
    ....i made sure i got him when i played soccer manager frm last year........good to have to strengthen the defence......young,xp ... being left out frm France is just temp as nly need more playtime to be back in.......... YNWA

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  35. Skrtel, Assaidi, Coates, Downing out.Suarez if possible.

    Sahko,Siqueira,alderweireld,Cissoko in. Glen Johnson to midfield for extra offenseand experience. Add Kelly and Agger and the defense now is rock solid. Start the season and roll with it. Sell Suarez out of country whenever, before the summer window or in January but never in country,EVER! Hopefully we offload Allen in January once he proves last years flop no fluke.

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  36. can we afford and do we have the squad to do that....its down to the selling club and papa to arrive fit at anfield its not down to us

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  37. at this moment yes because the guys no been passed fir to play

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  38. Another childish title. In South Africa, Kop means head in Afrikaans....You sir are referred to as a Mull Kop instead of Liverpool Kop...means Rabid Head.

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  39. And look where Wigan are now, lol.

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  40. I think we could do with a bit more defensive cover, and someone with a bit more experience than our youngsters. So he could be a good option.

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  41. While I would always appreciate new signings and new blood cb for me isn't the most pressing position. We have for international cbs in our squad and with Kelly and wisdom another two young players. If we bring in anyone else at cb then costs should go on loan; I still think he could come good but he needs to be playing regularly.
    We should be going all out to buy eriksen; I just don't get why we wouldn't be. I understand the coutinho in the whole argument but if he gets injured or tired we don't have much in there. Plus they can both play wide or in the whole so it would be useful to switch them.
    The number of times excellent players come out and practically invite us to get them and we seemingly ignore it astounds me.
    Turan appears to be available again. Honda?? Why are we not picking these players up while they're available and before spurs do. We're so worried about not selling suarez to a rival and making them stronger were ignoring spurs and at the same time a allowing them to strengthen.
    Who are we going to get in to strengthen the wings?? Especially if downing (and possibly sterling????) leaves? We can't rely on sterling, ibe and assaidi. Borini and aspas are strikers that can do a job out wide but we need some players schooled in how to play there, not converted strikers.

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  42. I've never seen him play, but do Liverpool have any draw nowadays? Every player seems to be obsessed with CL football. I like the fact the club is looking after its long term future, but id, rather they strengthened the first team, because its looking short of quality. Its frightening when you look at City,chelsea and utd's squads. Like I keep saying, spurs look strong also. The plan to keep Suarez from arsenal, is overlooking the fact, spurs have invested heavily this summer. Spurs have ambition, to suceed, rather than ambition to balance the books, like liverpool, Imo.

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  43. Spurs show more ambition. I don't mind youth as back up if the quality in the first team is better than it currently is. Rodgers needs to back up his words and improve the first team. In an ideal world that would be a winger/Am, and midfielder, minimum.

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  44. I'd take Sakho in a heartbeat: big, powerful, fast and clever. He's the type of defender who won't be bullied at set pieces and who gives us a greater presence at the back. If we decide to cash on on Agger (which I wouldn't like to see as I like everything about him) then this is the guy we should be replacing him with. Alongside Toure, they could prove to be the brick wall at the back we haven't seen since Hyypia & Carragher - possibly better.

    As for other signings:

    Eriksen, IMO, is a must as he will take up Gerrard's position when he retires in a few years. The guy is only 21 and seems to have been around forever. We all saw how good he was against Man City in last season's Champions League.

    Siqueira looks to be a done deal, so no point in stating my opinion on who we should buy at left back, although this guys is pretty sharp and very fast.

    As for the Suarez situation, I'd offer him to Dortmund for Lewandowski. Straight swap, no nonesense deal to get rid of him before the window closes and we're left with our very own Winston Bogarde. He doesn't want to play for us, we don't want to sell him (especially to a rival club), my solution would be to swap him with one of Europe's top strikers.

    Luis Muriel is another name which has been touted in the media as a potential signing for a Premier League club. I'd be looking at bringing him to Anfield, if I had anything to do with player recruitment.

    Tello is also a player whom I rate very highly but his name hasn't been mentioned in a while.

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  45. Whilst the idea of swapping Suarez with Lewandowski, is a very nice thought. I cant see them going for it. He is a very good player who has consistently scored goals for them. Suarez would most likely score goals for them, but comes with a lot of baggage. Also I cant see Lewandowski swapping the CL and competing for the title, for no European football, and (most likely) a battle for 4th or 5th.

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  46. id go with what gary neville says and sell suarez to chelsea

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  47. I don't think he would come either and it was just a thought/suggestion as I think Lewandowski has his heart set on a free transfer to Bayern next year. Still, it'd be worth a try.
    At this point in time, even a straight swap for Benzema would be better than having him sulking in our reserves.
    I put up with all his previous 'failings' as I strongly believed he wasn't intentionally harming the team, only his own reputation. Now, with what's been happening, I want rid of him as he's bringing more bad publicity to the club than he ever did before.

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  48. Tello has signed a new contract earlier this month, which has put an end to the low release clause, hence the rumours have gone away. Pity. Now a 25m Euros clause.

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  49. So we sell Downing (about time) and we still send Suso out on loan? Doesn't bode well for him does it?

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  50. Who do you guys rate more, on their best days? Asking cuz I don't know...

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  51. Suso has more top flight experience than Alberto. With respect though, Suso was sent out on loan a while ago, whilst Downing's move is not official as of this moment.

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  52. dont be stupid LFC fans

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  53. I do sincerely hope we plan ahead further than a week when we allow players to go out on loan.

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  54. Maybe its the defeat to an under strength, under age Celtic team but I have been a bit down this week. Toure looked like the best thing in our defence and not taking anything away from him but which top four team would he walk into the way he has walked into ours ? Not only that, and it was great to see him pushing up and bringing the ball out of defence, but surely he was meant to be cover for the new young CB we were going to be getting in right ? Now it looks like the ajax pair will be off to spurs who have already out-bought us this window. If we could get this fella or any up and coming CB it would go a long way to cheering me up. If we got Willian I would almost be able to forgive this endless summer of shame. Not trolling but really starting to get down about this transfer window.

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  55. Be tough finding a buyer for Coates; he hardly looks good enough for a decent second-tier club in Europe, sadly.



    Don't forget Wisdom and Kelly; sure they'll play an important part this season. I rate them both pretty highly as CBs.

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  56. Agree with you on Coates it will be hard to find a club willing to take him maybe Stoke.


    On Wisdom and Kelly i don't personally ever see them being good enough for us. Not bad for cover now but if we get back in the CL or want a serious chance of doing so we need better imo. I know a lot will disagree but that's my personal opinion.

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  57. I did as well but in light of this Suarez saga, I've decided to not support the signing of any player who has had past off-field issues and Amorebieta is defo up there lol But like you said, Fulham will be pinching themselves over how they got away with that bargain because he is a very good player

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  58. Correct me if I'm wrong Jamie, but It seems as if BR can only have a 2 players per position in his squad (Excluding the occasional youth player), and we can only purchase when a position is cleared, or as a precaution in Reina's case.


    GK Old: Reina,Jones
    GK Now: Mignolet, Jones


    RB: Johnsen Kelly Wisdom (Wisdom can be classified as "youth" player)
    LB: Enrique (actively looking for num 2)

    2CB= 4players
    Centerbacks Old: Agger Skyrtel Coates Carra
    Centerbacks New: Toure Agger Skyrtel Coates


    3Mid=6 players
    Mid Old: Gerrard Lucas Allen Hendo Coutinho Shelvey
    Mid New: Gerrard Lucas Allen Hendo Coutinho Alberto


    3Fwd=6 players
    Fwd Old: Suarez Sturridge Borini Sterling Suso Downing
    Fwd New: Suarez Sturridge Borini Sterling Aspas
    (Ibe still too young to be considered genuine 1st team player, and so is Sterling really, Assaidi is the water boy)


    What I'm trying to get at here is that to me it looks like BR and FSG are building a squad of 22 "first team" players with support from the youth teams when needed. And that our lack of action in the Transfer window could be down to having to sell on weaker squad members before we can replace them with stronger ones. Could be FSG's way of forcing the club to shift the deadwood and a roundabout way of controlling the clubs wages.


    Just a thought, a personal justification of why LFC havent brought more players in

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  59. Cheers, dude. I was wondering but hadn't heard anything.

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  60. Might be playing for Spain tomorrow, he is in the squad. Looks like a experimental squad in the midfield/attacking positions as no Xavi & Cesc but a good indication of his talent still.

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  61. Sakho, Cissoskho, Alderwiereld, Papa.... I don't care...just get one of them. Cripes we only have till 2 Sept and then we have to sweat it out till January. We need a big, strong, fast, mean defender now...and each of these guys fills the bill...so get one already.

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  62. 25 man roster implies you can have more than two per position.

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  63. Certainly without European football there is less need for a big squad. Hence, possibly why he has been open to sending the likes of wisdom on loan. But even if takes some more players leaving, I think there will be one or two first XI signings.

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  64. French League is much under-rated here in UK. Some of the players playing there are world class & could be bought at a fraction of transfer fee that we wasted (or 'll need) for British players. Due to the taxation system, French clubs always struggle to keep their best players & almost always forced to sell at a lower price.

    For example, Piere Abumyang cost only 10-11m, & scored a hat-trick on debut. Players like Sakho, Granier, Lecazette, Fofana, Gonalons, Zouma, Guilavogui, Payet, Ayew, Valbuena, Chantome, Coupe, Matuidi, would have priced at least twice, had they been English. I was very upset that, being French himself, Commolli never tried in France (& that confirms me once again that KK was in charge on those infamous purchases).


    Sakho 'll be a fantastic acquire, so would be Granier, Payet & Coupe.

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  65. I watch lot of BundesLiga & League 1. If you ask me, I would have gone for Sakho - a man mountain, but with lightning speed & towering aerial ability. He can play as LB as well & he 'll be much cheaper than Papa.


    However, Sakho is left-footed & considering Agger staying, he might not be perfect match for us. If Sakho comes to LFC, the first condition for him 'll be a guaranteed automatic start & at CB position. I don't want another unsatisfied player at Anfield.

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  66. It's exactly at your opposite order 3,2,1. However, Sakho is primarily a CB, other 2 are LB.



    Cissoko is not a defender, clumsy tackle & first touch. But he has speed & shooting ability with limited passing vision. "ll be a good player for Sunderland, but not for LFC.


    Sequire is a much better ball player (he is a Brazilian) & can play as Left-midfielder or even winger for his ball skills & passing vision; but I am not sure about his physical presence for EPL, neither of his speed. He 'll be a perfect LB, but can't play at CB.


    Sakho is extremely physical (but not clumsy), speedy with good ball control, passing vision & a towering aerial ability. He can play as LB as well. He is the perfect foil for someone as silky as Agger, only problem is both are left footed.


    Still, i would like to see both Sequire & Sakho signed for us.

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