Liverpool centre-back Mamadou Sakho has signed a new five-year contract with the club, in a move that might surprise some fans, according to the Mirror.
The France international has not always convinced at Anfield, and despite playing a key role in the 2014-15 season as Liverpool pushed Manchester City close for the title, he was in and out of the side last term.
Indeed, during the season before last—comfortably Brendan Rodgers’s most successful as Reds chief—the defender made 18 appearances during the 2013-14 campaign, which was reduced to 16 last term.
The arrival of Dejan Lovren from Southampton certainly reduced Sakho’s playing time, while the defender’s uncertainty with the ball at his feet may also have cost him in the eyes of the manager.
Indeed, it’s intriguing that Rodgers has opted to tie the defender down until 2020, having not yet used him in the league so far this season.
Sakho didn’t even feature in the Reds matchday squad for the first two games of the season, and the Mirror describe the decision to offer him a new contract as a ‘change of mind’ from Rodgers.
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The news is unlikely to please Tony Evans, the vocal Liverpool fan, prolific Twitter user and former football editor at The Times.
The high-profile journalist took to Twitter to identify the French international as “one of a dozen or more players LFC have overpaid for.”
Sakho is one of dozen or more players LFC have overpaid for, who do not have mentality, ability or strength to play in the Premier League
— Tony Evans (@TonyEvans92a) September 17, 2015
Now that Liverpool have committed to persist with Sakho, one could expect that the former Paris Saint-Germain man will enjoy a higher profile within the squad. Certainly, with Lovren continuing to look uncertain in the heart of the defence, it may be that 25-year-old Sakho enjoys an unlikely return to the starting XI for the Merseyside heavyweights.