Mamadou Sakho’s imperious form of Crystal Palace has not gone unnoticed it seems, with the Sun now claiming West Bromwich Albion are also keen on the Liverpool loanee.
What’s the word?
Well, according to the report, the Baggies are keen on the Frenchman following his return to form whilst on loan in south London. Having joined the club in January, the Frenchman has proved instrumental to Sam Allardyce’s fire-fighting mission at Selhurst Park, helping ease relegation fears.
With that in mind, Tony Pulis is understood to be keen, with those at the Hawthorns also touted as a potentially interested party in the buildup to the New Year sales.
Is his time at Liverpool really up?
The report in question suggests it is indeed. In truth, the Reds could do with a defender such as Sakho, in this kind of form at least.
Defensive frailty has proved to be a sewing motif of Jurgen Klopp’s tenure in charge at Anfield and the Frenchman is proving to be the resolute defender so desperately required on Merseyside right now.
Still, the relationship between the two reportedly deteriorated prior to Sakho’s exit and the manner in which the Reds play require their central defenders to have a lot more to their game than merely dogged defensive work.
Granted, none of the current options are doing much on that front at the moment, though the fact Sakho was completely dropped from the squad for the first part of the campaign suggests he won’t be involved again.
Palace or West Brom?
Surely Palace will do their best to keep a hold of him. The report does claim West Brom could be put off by a potential £20m valuation and the Eagles have previous in parting with bundles of cash. Last summer, they purchased Christian Benteke for a club-record fee and continued to spend big money during the January transfer window.
Sam Allardyce’s side are said to be desperate to keep him and the club are thought to feel as if they will have first refusal on the 26-year-old.
As things stand, it’s hard to argue all signs point towards a permanent move to south London this summer.
