Mamadou Sakho Linked to Liverpool

With dramatic twists involving Liverpool transfer targets popping up every five seconds, one transfer story that has not received much attention yet revolves around Paris Saint-Germain centre back Mamadou Sakho. The twenty-three year-old has been offered a new contract by the Ligue 1 champions, but like many players in the midst of contract negotiations he's the focus of interest for many other clubs.

The source of Sakho's hesitation in signing a new contract with his boyhood club is his apparent decrease in first team football. The player featured in thirty-four matches across all competitions last season, which was actually an increase from the previous year; however, between PSG's league matches, their run to the quarterfinals in all three cup competitions they participated in, and Carlo Ancelotti's preference for other defensive options, Sakho's overall lack of playing time proved disappointing for the player.

"I have to take a decision," the player said. "PSG are my club. I was born here and learnt my football here. I want to play for this club my entire life but it has to be clear that I don't want to sit on the bench.

"I did not play as much I like last season because of the manager's choices. Every player wants to play every week and I am no different. I am flattered to be linked with clubs of the history of Liverpool and AC Milan. We will see what happens in the near future."

The links, admittedly, seem tenuous at best and it would hardly be surprising if the source of said links was a poorly covered up tip from his management team. Still, the player isn't necessarily an appallingly poor fit for Liverpool as he ticks many of the boxes on both the club's and fans' check lists: buying ALL THE YOUTH who can't break into the first team, a centre back who can double as left back when called upon, and a dead cert for inclusion on any future Power Rankings: Hair Edition list.

I won't pretend to know anything about Sakho as I pay very little attention to Ligue 1 (which is to say: no attention whatsoever), but the bastion of accurate and quality sports information that is Wikipedia declares the Frenchman to be known for "his leadership credentials, his tireless engine, hard-working attitude, and his tackling ability." Sounds great! I'm not terribly convinced there's much here beyond agent bluffing, but in the unlikely event the man ends up on Merseyside, here's a video of Sakho featuring some rad tackles and cool goals that will help us become experts on his game play. Sports!