After years of having their best players taken away from them by Liverpool, Southampton could be about to reverse roles, albeit for a player Jurgen Klopp now deems surplus to requirements, as Claude Puel ponders a summer move for Mamadou Sakho, reports The Daily Mail.
Sakho, 27, joined Crystal Palace on loan in January until the end of the season and has made a hugely impressive start to life at Selhurst Park, attracting interest from Southampton and Serie A giants Napoli.
Palace have no clause in their loan agreement with Liverpool to have first right to make the move permanent at the end of the season and would likely struggle to keep hold of the former France international given the interest from other clubs.
Having sold Jose Fonte in January and with Virgil van Dijk expected to attract plenty of interest in the summer, there will be a growing need to invest in new defenders for Southampton and Puel has already earmarked Sakho as a potential signing.
Since making his Palace debut against Middlesbrough at the end of February, Palace have won three games in a row and haven’t conceded in that time, owing a large amount of that to the performances of Sakho at the heart of their defence.
For more stats on Mamadou Sakho, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
