West Bromwich Albion have previously targeted Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho, but Southampton have now lined up a move.
Liverpool’s Mamadou Sakho
A report in the Telegraph this week suggested that Southampton are lining up a move for Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho this summer if they sell Virgil van Dijk, but if West Brom want to continue progressing, they cannot allow such a deal to take place.
According to a report from the Express and Star in November, Tony Pulis was considering targeting the 27-year-old in January in the hope of bringing him to the Hawthorns on loan.
While a temporary deal made perfect sense at that time – Sakho had been exiled from the Reds first-team and had not played for Jurgen Klopp’s side at all this season – his form since joining Crystal Palace on loan proves that he should be on the Baggies’ radar once again.
West Brom parted company with centre-back Jonas Olsson recently, and while Craig Dawson will be capable of moving from right-back into his more natural position in the centre, Pulis would be wise to consider bolstering his options.
Sakho has arguably been the catalyst for Palace’s sharp upturn in form lately. Sam Allardyce’s men have alleviated their relegation fears by winning the first three games that Sakho featured in, keeping clean sheets on every occasion.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis
And it must not be forgotten that Southampton have the potential to make West Brom’s time in the Premier League’s top eight a brief one, so the Saints winning the race for Sakho’s signature could be extremely harmful to Pulis’ men.
But getting players like Sakho through the door this summer could provide West Brom’s chances of establishing themselves as a top-half team with an enormous boost, and thus, they should reignite their interest and make sure they do everything to sign him ahead of their rivals.
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