Sakho not part of Klopp's Liverpool plans

Nicholas McGee

Sakho not part of Klopp's Liverpool plans image

Mamadou Sakho's career at Liverpool appears to be over after manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed the defender is not part of his first-team plans.

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France international Sakho has not played for Liverpool this season despite returning to fitness in September.

UEFA announced Sakho had failed a drugs test back in April, but the charges against him were dropped in July after he served a provisional ban, missing Liverpool's Europa League final defeat and Euro 2016.

The former Paris Saint-Germain centre-back was then sent home from a pre-season tour of the United States, with Klopp revealing Sakho had nearly missed their flight to San Francisco, missed a training session and was late for a team meal.

Sakho accused Liverpool of using his fitness as an excuse for his exile from the first team in a social media outburst in September.

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And Sakho will likely now have to move elsewhere to secure first-team football.

Klopp said ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash with Bournemouth that he had "absolutely no thought to sell any player from the first-team squad" in the January transfer window.

But when asked about Sakho, he replied: "Nothing has changed.

"He is not in [my] plans for the first team. The first-team squad is here [at Melwood]. You know all this."

Nicholas McGee