Rumour Mongering: Sakho to Choose Between Saints and Spartak

Sevilla and Swansea and half of Serie A have been linked with a move for Mamadou Sakho. So too has much of France’s Ligue 1. In the end, though, it appears to be down to Southampton and Spartak Moscow, and the French defender is set to decide on his preferred destination in the coming days.

At least according to France’s Le 10 Sport, who claim that at this stage, it’s really only those two clubs that have a shot at landing Sakho before the transfer window closes. On paper, at least, it’s hard to see it being much of a choice for Sakho, with Southampton almost certainly favourites.

Southampton, though, have been reluctant to meet Liverpool’s £20M transfer demands, and though their interest is serious, this has prevented a deal getting done already and have given Spartak an opening to try to convince the player that the Russian Premier League would be an acceptable alternative.

If true, it seems less a case of waiting for Sakho to decide and more one of waiting to find out if Southampton get close enough to Liverpool’s valuation to get a deal done. If they can manage that, it likely won’t take long for Sakho to agree a deal and make the switch to England’s south coast.

If they can’t get close enough to Liverpool’s valuation, then a late move to Spartak to avoid ending up stuck in the reserves for six more months would be the likely result. Either way, with less than a week to go in the window, it shouldn’t be long now before we all find out.