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It does still strike me as odd the money being thrown out for players this summer. But the market is the market and until it finally balloons and explodes the numbers will keep rising. That broadcasting money is sweet and has been spread around to all clubs. Crystal Palace are no different. They have the funds available to throw at purchasing a top center back for their team, a top center back who made the difference for the Eagles last season upon arriving on loan under Sam Allardyce. But the £30million price tag Liverpool have lovingly placed on Mamadou Sakho is causing those eagle talons to go cold.
We know that Crystal Palace and Sakho have agreed to terms over a transfer to Selhurst Park but the chairman Steve Parish, along with so many managers around the world, is testing the waters of the posture game this summer.
“I think that is going to be a very difficult one for us to do,” said Parish about paying a fair market price for a player that instantly makes their team better.
“I think Liverpool want a big number for him.
Sakho arrived to Liverpool with much fanfare in 2013. He was the captain of Paris Saint-Germain but had fallen out with manager Carlo Ancelotti over a string of poor performances and was looking for adventures new.
Sakho’s undoing at Liverpool was rocketing to the top of Jürgen Klopp’s grumble list after a series of errors involving team requirements. Klopp had apparently seen enough of the Frenchman and sent Mamadou into a football limbo that lasted the better part of a year.
But Mamadou still has it. He impressed in the Crystal Palace back line while on loan last season before suffering a knee injury. And it’s easy to see that he could plug right back into their team and everything will be super happy. But some chairmen are just going to chairman.
“That is a tough one to make happen on a permanent basis,” continued Parish. “We need to look at the budgets and be realistic.”
Meanwhile, Sakho trains alone at Melwood but not for banishment reasons this time. He has been training with the rehabilitation team in an effort to put the knee trouble he’s had behind him.