The injury misfortune of one player often provides opportunities for others to show they should be taking a bigger role, either at club or national level.
L’Equipe report that’s the case for Crystal Palace defender Mamadou Sakho right now.
The 28 year old former PSG and Liverpool player was agonisingly on the reserve list for France’s World Cup squad in the summer, and it was certainly the one time that missing out really counted.
Didier Deschamps’ men went on to win the tournament in Russia and the players are living legends. That doesn’t protect them from injuries, though.
This week Samuel Umtiti picked up a knee injury and whilst Barcelona are being unusually vague in their diagnosis, the Catalan media believe there’s been a ligament tear and he won’t be playing soon.
L’Equipe say that if Deschamps can’t pick Umtiti, it’s likely he’ll go for Sakho, Abdou Diallo or Aymeric Laporte, with the Crystal Palace player first in the French newspaper’s list.
That would be a huge boost for Sakho.
