Carragher saw something special in Sakho when he played alongside him in a charity match…
Liverpool’s recently retired legendary centre-half Jamie Carragher reckons new £18m signing Mamadou Sakho will take the Premier League by storm, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Carragher played next to Sakho in defence 18 months ago in a charity match organised by his former French boss Gerard Houllier, and from this point onwards, Carragher says he knew Sakho would develop into a top international centre-back.
“I played alongside Sakho,” said Carragher.
“How did it go? Well we won 2-1! I talked him through it and he was fine.
“But I remember on the flight home Gerard Houllier having a really good word with him, even though he wasn’t his manager, saying what he needed to do to improve.
“It wasn’t even his player and he was trying to improve him. He later said to me, ‘He’s going to be a player, him.”
Sakho has now made 14 appearances for France, captained PSG, and earned himself a big money move to Liverpool on the final day of the transfer window.
Carragher thinks Sakho has the potential to be a brilliant Liverpool defender, and can understand where manager Brendan Rodgers sees him fitting into the squad.
“He’s at a great age, physically he’s ready for the Premier League, it will just be interesting to see where the manager brings him in,” he said.
With Daniel Agger, Kolo Toure, Martin Skrtel and fellow new signing Tiago Ilori all fighting for a starting spot, Sakho is by no means guaranteed early opportunities.
“He’s left-sided and there’s competition for places everywhere now. Cissokho’s been brought in to put pressure on Enrique, Skrtel’s done really well in the Manchester United game, while Toure’s been a revelation. In the first three games he was superb so we’ll be looking to get him back against Swansea,” added Carragher, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005.
Liverpool have won all three of their opening Premier League matches without conceding a goal, so it will be interesting to see who Rodgers chooses in defence for the away trip to Swansea at the weekend. With Toure starting his Reds’ career so impressively, and with Skrtel revitalised, it could well be that Sakho starts at left-back in the coming weeks.
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