William Gallas laments ‘loved’ Sakho’s Liverpool exit

Former France defender William Gallas says it is “a shame” that Liverpool offloaded Mamadou Sakho this summer.

Jurgen Klopp allowed the centre-back to leave Anfield permanently in a £26million move to Crystal Palace late in the transfer window. The towering Frenchman had been an instant success on loan last season before getting injured in April and Palace tried to sign him all summer, before finally getting their man.

Sakho though was once a fans’ favourite at Anfield, but after falling out with Klopp in the summer of 2016 after turning up late to a number of training sessions.

The 27-year-old was eventually loaned out to Palace the following January, and made the move permanent after it became clear that there was no way back under Klopp

Gallas, formerly of Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, admits it is “a shame” that things didn’t work out for his compatriot.

“You’ve got to remember that when he first arrived, he was one of Klopp’s favourite,” he told SFR Sport. “I just think Klopp is the kind of guy that if you do the same thing three times, that’s it.

“It’s a shame because I feel like Mama had everything to explode at Liverpool. He was loved by the fans.”

New Palace boss Roy Hodgson labelled Sakho a “quality centre-back” after he made his first appearance of the season in the Carabao Cup win over Huddersfield in midweek.

Hodgson said: “He was excellent, considering it was his first game [since rejoining the club and returning from injury].

“He hasn’t been able to train as much as he would like. We were worried about his level of fitness, to play 90 minutes against another Premier League team; we were surprised he lasted as long as he did and he probably could have lasted longer.

“It wasn’t Mamadou who was desperate to come off and he wasn’t cramping up or slowing down, but as a precaution we thought we’ve done well here, we’ve had 70 minutes, we won’t take a chance and with Damien Delaney on the bench we have a safe pair of feet to go in and help us out.”

Asked if the defender would be ready to start against Man City, Hodgson replied: “Yeah I think he will. We’ve got three more days but he will certainly be very much in contention because he is a quality centre-back, there is no doubt about that.”