Jürgen Klopp has told Mamadou Sakho there is no clear route back into the Liverpool side following a turbulent few months at Anfield.
The Liverpool manager insists the France defender does not have to regain his trust despite being sent home from the pre-season trip to the United States for disciplinary reasons. The £19m defender has not played since April after being suspended by Uefa for failing a drug test, a sanction later dropped by European football’s governing body, and then suffering an achilles injury in July.
However, having signed the central defenders Joël Matip and Ragnar Klavan and listened to loan offers for Sakho, Klopp admits the former Paris Saint-Germain captain, now 26, could be set for an extended spell on the sidelines.
“Now the squad is like it is, it is about making Mama fit,” he said. “He isn’t. He has had suspension and injury. Now we will see what happens. It’s about who plays now and then at the end, Mama knows and I know. That is enough. He doesn’t have to gain my trust. He could not play for a long time. Then how do you get match time after a long break? It is difficult. You hope people stay fit – maybe not for Mama’s sake – but for the team.”
Sakho rejected the chance to join Besiktas, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion on loan before the transfer deadline, with Klopp open to offers for him. “You have to speak before the window closes. That is what I did,” the manager added. “I am not silly enough to forget good performances but the rest we see. Now we have more centre-halves – good – but for him it needs time. It is part of the game and we will see what happens.”
Klopp also dismissed criticism levelled at him by Mario Balotelli’s agent, Mino Raiola, over the striker’s treatment during his final months at Liverpool. Raiola had called the German “a piece of shit” for allegedly ostracising Balotelli before his free transfer to Nice. Asked how upset he was by the criticism, Klopp replied: “0.0. We did not isolate him. I know him. I am not interested in these things. It’s a free world so he can say what he wants.”
