Mario Balotelli has urged Mamadou Sakho to leave Liverpool in the January transfer window and says he would be welcome at Nice.
Liverpool sold Balotelli after an entirely unsuccessfully two-year spell with the club and upon making the switch to Ligue 1 to join OGC Nice, the Italian forward has been in fine form. He scored six goals in first six league games for the French club.
Mamadou Sakho is in the dog box at Anfield and it would seem as though he is likely to leave Liverpool in the January transfer as Jurgen Klopp isn’t likely to give him game time anytime soon.
Balotelli has publicly urged Sakho to leave Liverpool and it’s no secret that the former Manchester City forward holds something of a grudge against the Merseyside club.
“I speak with him from time to time. I told him what a shame that a player like you is not playing,” he told Telefoot, via Sports Mole.
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“I have played with Mama, he is one of the best defenders that I have come across, he deserves to be playing every match, for the national team too.
“That is what is most important, he should leave. I will ask him if he wants to come to Nice! For January, that would be good.”
I would welcome a move to Nice for Sakho if it meant that the Frenchman found a way back into the national team and rekindled the form which was instrumental in Liverpool finding passage to last season’s Europa League final.
Sakho has been a cause for division among fans in recent weeks as many are at a loss for words to explain how a player can go from being a catalyst for one of the most dramatic European comebacks to being an outcast in several months. These people look past how unprofessional it is to take drugs as a professional athlete, even if you’re cleared of all charges.
Sakho’s time is up at Liverpool and while I am sympathetic to his situation, he brought it on himself and he clearly didn’t show Klopp enough desire to repent and reform to change his mind so he’s out. Liverpool are top of the league, so it’s not as though he’s being missed and this should serve as a lesson learned to a player who was once so important to this team.