Crystal Palace defender Mamadou Sakho has declared that he expects to be back playing football again in pre-season.
The Frenchman has been out of action with a serious knee injury since Palace's 4-1 win against Leicester City on February 23, with the 29-year-old having an operation after sustaining the injury.
He was not initially ruled out for the rest of the season by Palace boss Roy Hodgson, but he has not featured since.
And the Frenchman has now provided an update himself on his injury status, confirming when he anticipates returning to action.
"I will be back to play in mid-June, and in July the lion will be back," he said in an interview with French media Telefoot.
"I've been lucky and my meniscus is fully repaired."
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Sakho was present at Palace's club awards night last night (Tuesday) in Boxpark in Croydon, where Aaron Wan-Bissaka was named as the club's player of the season and players' player of the season.
But Sakho has cast doubt over his long-term future at Palace with his comments in the recent interview as he once again made his ambitions clear, having previously said that he wants to play at the highest level possible.
"I am enjoying myself at Crystal Palace, but in life you never know what will happen tomorrow," he has been quoted as saying.
"I am not especially thinking about Euro 2020 but everyone who knows me knows that I am ambitious.
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"The best thing for a player is to start in Ligue 2, Ligue 1 then the Champions League and the national team."
Sakho did earn a recall to the French national team last year, making his first appearance for Les Bleus in two-and-a-half years as he featured for France in a 1-0 win against Uruguay in Paris in November.
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