Just before the weekend, L’Equipe dropped a mini bombshell by revealing that Lyon, who might miss out on European football altogether next season, were interested in Crystal Palace’s Mamadou Sakho.
The centre-back has a strong affiliation with Paris Saint-Germain, his former club, and it was quite surprising to see he would be up for playing for another Ligue 1 side.
If one report from France wasn’t enough to convince you, however, then maybe two will, as Le Parisien run a very similar story on Monday, confirming what L’Equipe had previously stated.
They state Lyon are ‘very interested’ in the Crystal Palace defender, and that interest ‘seems to be mutual’, as the club have ‘decided on buying a new centre-back’.
It’s explained the Eagles ‘will not keep’ Sakho ‘in case of a correct offer’, with Le Parisien speculating that a fee of around €10m ‘could conclude the deal’.
Bruno Cheyrou, the new man in charge of recruiting at Lyon, is the man in charge of the dossier, and there is hope the player will be able to help pave the way towards an agreement.
That’s because he currently earns over €500k/month at Selhurst Park, which is far too much for the Ligue 1 club, but Le Parisien reveal Sakho is ‘aware’ that Lyon could help him get back into the limelight on an international level, as he ‘dreams’ of returning to the France setup ahead of next year’s Euros.
Furthermore, with all his injury problems of late and lack of appearances, he isn’t in the same position as he was when he negotiated his Crystal Palace deal.
There’s hope for everyone involved, and this could quickly become one of the more interesting deals to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
