Crystal Palace manager Frank de Boer has ended his pursuit to sign Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho as Liverpool demand a whopping £30 million.
Mamadou Sakho was heavily influential in helping Sam Allardyce’s Crystal Palace pull out of the relegation zone towards the end of last season. The Frenchman was brilliant in the Eagles’ 2-1 victory against the eventual champions Chelsea, and also in their 3-0 win over Arsenal.
Understandably, the club would want to keep him at Selhurst Park. But while De Boer believes Sakho could be a valuable asset for the club, he also admits that the £30 million price tag set by Liverpool is way too much.
As reported by The Sun, De Boer said, “Everybody knows he had a major impact last season and, when he’s available for us, I think that is a quality injection for the club. It is not like this now because he is much too expensive for the club.”
Sakho was demoted from Liverpool’s senior squad after he broke the rules that were put in place by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. This led to former Paris Saint Germain defender being dispatched to Palace on a loan spell until the end of last season.
Sakho would also prefer a permanent move to Crystal Palace as Klopp has frozen him out of the Liverpool squad. Talks between Liverpool and Palace are expected to resume shortly, with just a week remaining for the transfer window to shut.
The Reds are also in talks with West Bromwich Albion, who have shown interest in him, and the Hawthorns could be another possible destination for the French international.
Palace chairman Steve Parish has claimed he is looking at three more reinforcements before the window shuts, but also admitted that it depends on players leaving the club. Parish has already spent £7.9m on Dutch defender Jaido Riedewald from Ajax, and is keen on snagging 27-year old defender Ognjen Vranjes from AEK.
However, the Eagles have already suffered two defeats this season under new manager De Boer, and retaining Sakho’s services is crucial in their surge to avoid relegation.
Although Crystal Palace have not placed an official bid for Sakho yet, variables around the fee have reportedly been discussed. This is similar to Christian Benteke’s situation last season, where Palace were apprehensive about the Belgian’s hefty £32 million price tag, but the deal was eventually agreed.
Whether Parish’s arm could be twisted this time around, remains to be seen.
