Crystal Palace signed former loanee Mamadou Sakho on a permanent basis from Liverpool in the summer.
Time is a rare luxury in modern football, and new signings don’t get given too much of it before they are adjudged a hit or miss.
A couple of months on from the summer transfer window, HITC is grading the first impressions made by the new arrivals.
Here we take a closer look at Crystal Palace’s permanent signing of Mamadou Sakho from Liverpool.
Sakho already had the fans on side following his arrival from Anfield, having spent a successful loan spell with the Eagles last season in which he helped them avoid relegation from the Premier League.
Palace really should have completed the £26m transfer way before deadline day – fee according to BBC Sport.
Had Frank de Boer had Sakho to solidify his defence at the beginning of the season, he may have been given a longer grace period, although the Frenchman’s fitness was a concern after his knee injury.
Sakho has not yet been able to have the same influence on Palace as he did last term, when they won five of the eight games that he played, and kept four clean sheets. Roy Hodgson’s team have wider problems.
But the strong and commanding 27-year-old is a step up on the rest of the defenders at Selhurst Park, and will be pivotal to Palace’s fortunes if they are to climb off the bottom of the table and escape the drop again.
A run of eight games against opponents from outside of the top six is where Sakho can show his true value as a leader and defensive warrior – qualities that are being badly missed back on Merseyside.
Grade: C+
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