Liverpool: What defender of the past would be the perfect match for Virgil van Dijk

The French prodigy – Mamadou Sakho

Duration: 2013 -2017
Appearances: 56
Current Team: Crystal Palace

Before coming to Liverpool, Sakho was rated as one of the most promising centre-backs. He had become the youngest player to captain PSG and went on to play 151 matches in Ligue 1 while winning all four domestic trophies.

Sakho’s strengths were his passing and tackling ability but could also be very erratic when making tackles. His weakness was his pace and being able to read the game. After his transfer to Liverpool for £18m from PSG, which was a bargain at the time, Sakho just couldn’t cement his place in the starting line-up.

The Frenchman never featured much at Anfield and in the 2015/2016 season he made his most starts for the Reds with 21. During the three seasons he was at the club, Sakho never really did fit in and was loaned out in 2017 to Crystal Palace, where he eventually was bought by them for £26m in August of the same year.