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Mamadou Sakho attends the Stéphane Rolland Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week (Image: Photo by Marc Piasecki/WireImage)

Mamadou Sakho was a cult hero during his time with Liverpool, but that did not stop him from leaving under a cloud after finding himself on the wrong side of Jurgen Klopp.

Frozen out for the first half of the campaign, he was demoted to train with Liverpool Under-23s before signing for Crystal Palace on loan in January 2017.

The Eagles later signed Sakho permanently for £26m on summer transfer deadline day after the Reds compromised on their original £30m asking fee.



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Years later, there still remains an air of intrigue around how the Frenchman’s Anfield departure actually unfolded, with his demotion coming straight off the heels of the defender being exonerated from allegedly violating UEFA’s anti-doping rules.

But despite how his Liverpool career ended, that does little to alter Sakho’s affection for his former side eight years on from his final departure.

The 35-year-old joined the Reds from his boyhood side, Paris Saint-Germain, in an £18m deal in September 2013 and made 80 appearances during his time at Anfield.

In fact, it’s as if there was a special gas in the atmosphere that makes anything happen and nothing is impossible.

“I wasn’t surprised when I arrived because, when I played in Paris, Liverpool was my favourite English team.

He’d go viral following the match, cementing his place in supporters’ hearts in the process, gate-crashing Dejan Lovren and Divock Origi’s post-match interview and sharing his love for ‘Liverpool country’.

And now explaining the differences between Paris, Liverpool and their love of football, his choice of phrase is something he still stands by.

“Paris is a capital with many other things than a football club,” he explained.

“Liverpool is a city where football is really the only thing that matters.

“Paris is a little less of a football city because it is made up of inhabitants who are not all from the city, the identity is necessarily a little less strong.

“Liverpool, it’s in their culture, in their blood.

Anfield is therefore a village like Liverpool.