Rumour Mongering: Southampton Want Sakho to Take Pay Cut

It’s never been a matter of if when it comes to Mamadou Sakho leaving, but a matter of when. After the defender fell out of favor with Jürgen Klopp during the preseason and has since been relegated to U23s duty, a move during the January window has all but been finalized. Rumors that Sevilla, Galatasaray, and even Swansea City are looking to take over Sakho’s services have all come and gone and with the window closing at 11pm BST on February 1st, surely they won’t be the last clubs to be linked to him.

This time, though, the Saints of Southampton are tossing their hat into the ring. With defender Virgil Van Dijk possibly leaving the south for new pitches, Southampton are understandably looking to fill the void the starter would leave behind. The Express are reporting that it’s only a matter of time before Van Dijk leaves, and Sakho is looking a likely option to replace him.

The one obstacle though, of course, is Sakho’s wages. The Frenchman currently earns£105k a week at Liverpool and something of that magnitude would likely smash Southampton’s current pay structure. They wouldn’t be the first club to have issues meeting the number, either, as Swansea are claimed to have the same difficulties, hence why a deal has yet to materialize.

Should Sakho agree to a pay cut, or the Saints agree to blow their current wages out of the water for him, remains to be seen, but in a January window that looks more and more likely to be uneventful for the Reds, an extra £20 million (roughly) wouldn’t be a bad bit of business. The January window is notoriously difficult to make any significant moves in and offloading Sakho somewhere else has seemed to be the only thing to actually happen for the club.