Mamadou Sakho (born 13 February 1990) is a French former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Sakho began his career at Paris FC before moving to Paris Saint-Germain's youth system in 2002. In October 2007, on his league debut, he became the youngest player ever to captain a Ligue 1 club. Sakho made over 200 appearances for the club, winning all four domestic trophies. In 2013, he transferred to Liverpool for £18 million. He had a loan spell with Crystal Palace in 2017, and was subsequently bought by the team for £26 million in September 2017. In July 2021, he joined Montpellier on a free transfer; he left the club in November 2023, following a physical altercation with manager Michel Der Zakarian. In the final year of his career, he represented Georgian club Torpedo Kutaisi.
Sakho was a full France international, who previously earned caps and captained the nation at all youth levels. After making his senior debut in 2010 against England, Sakho earned 29 caps and represented France at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Early life Sakho was born in Paris to Diakhanké Senegalese parents and was the fourth child of a family of seven children. He was raised in the northern neighborhood of Goutte d'Or.Dyer, Ervin. "Little Africa in Paris is a continent within a city." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Sunday 27 October 2002. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
Club career Early career Sakho started his football career at the age of six playing for the juniors of hometown club Paris FC. In 2002, he was lured away to professional club Paris Saint-Germain. Sakho was originally a striker, but due to Paris Saint-Germain's youth team having fewer defenders than strikers, he was moved into a more defensive role.
Sakho struggled to adapt during his first year at the Camp des Loges, the headquarters of the club's youth academy, often refusing to accept orders handed out by the trainers, such as when to go to bed. At one point, he was threatened with expulsion from the club due to his constant bad behavior. Following guidance from his parents and, particularly, under-13 Paris Saint-Germain coach Christian Mas, Sakho curbed his bad behavior and began to focus on his studies and football. When Sakho was 14, his father suddenly died. The resulting pain led to Sakho considering leaving football, but he later described that idea as "useless" and returned to the club after bereavement. Sakho quickly became one of the club's most sought after prospects winning numerous MVP awards during his time in the youth academy. In April 2005, he was a part of the Île-de-France region team that won the 2004–05 Coupe Nationale. That same year, he was a part of the Paris Saint-Germain under-18 team that won the Championnat National des 18 ans league title, despite being three years younger than many of his teammates.
In total, Sakho spent nearly six years at the Camp des Loges. A day after his 17th birthday, manager Paul Le Guen called the youngster up for the club's UEFA Cup Round of 32 first leg match against AEK Athens on 14 February 2007. Sakho started the match picking up a yellow card in the 20th minute. He played 85 minutes before being substituted out as Paris Saint-Germain won the match 2–0. Sakho played his second and final match of the season in the UEFA Cup Round of 16 first leg match against Benfica, he played the full match in a 2–1 victory.
Paris Saint-Germain 2007–2010
On 14 June 2007, Sakho signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal. He was officially promoted to the senior side for the 2007–08 season, despite being only 17 years old, and was assigned the first team number 3 shirt. Sakho made his first start that season for Paris Saint-Germain in the club's 3–0 win over Lorient in the Coupe de la Ligue on 26 September 2007, starting in the centre back role alongside the experienced Colombian Mario Yepes. Sakho made his league debut on 20 October against Valenciennes in a 0–0 draw. In an effort to galvanize the questionable leadership of several senior team players, such as first-team captain Pauleta and vice-captain Sylvain Armand, Le Guen named Sakho captain for the match. Sakho's role as captain made him the youngest-ever captain of Paris Saint-Germain at the age of 17 years and 8 months and also the youngest player to ever captain a side in Ligue 1. In the following match against Lyon, he was named captain again and tasked with the role of containing fellow French starlet Hatem Ben Arfa. Despite Sakho and the club putting up a strong fight, Ben Arfa scored two goals in a span of three minutes as Les Parisiens suffered a 3–2 defeat. In the club's following match against Nancy, Sakho picked up an extensive injury, which ruled him out for two months. He returned to action on 23 February 2008, playing the entire match in a 1–1 draw against Monaco. On 29 March, Sakho started and played the full 90 minutes in the club's 2–1 victory over Lens in the 2008 Coupe de la Ligue Final. The victory awarded Sakho the first major trophy of his career. In total, Sakho made 16 appearances during that season.
In the following season, Sakho made 34 total appearances contributing to PSG's successful run where the club reached as high as 2nd in the league, reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France, and made it to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. On 30 January 2009, due to his positive play and clubs from abroad constantly inquiring for his services, Paris Saint-Germain awarded Sakho a contract extension until June 2012. Two weeks later, he scored his first career goal for the club in a league match against Saint-Étienne on 14 February 2009, a day after his 19th birthday. The goal gave Paris Saint-Germain a 1–0 lead and the club went on to win the match 2–1.
Sakho opened the 2009–10 season as the incumbent starter partnering either veterans Sammy Traoré or Zoumana Camara in defense. Midway through the season, Sakho was embroiled in controversy when he allegedly slapped a Le Parisien newspaper journalist at the Camp des Loges, the club's training center. Before the incident, Sakho had allegedly confronted the journalist to question the accuracy of an article he had written referring to the controversy surrounding why Sakho went to a nightclub following Paris Saint-Germain's embarrassing loss to Lorient hours earlier. Sakho reportedly insulted the journalist and then slapped him before walking away. The journalist, who preferred to remain anonymous, filed a complaint the following day with both he and the newspaper describing Sakho's attitude as "unprofessional". Paris Saint-Germain president Robin Leproux and manager Antoine Kombouaré issued an apology on the club's behalf and Sakho later apologized to the journalist by telephone.
2010–2013
Sakho started the 2010–11 campaign partnering with Camara in defense. He was also installed as the team's captain in the UEFA Europa League by manager Kombouaré due to the unavailability of Claude Makélélé. Midway through August, Sakho began appearing in the centre back position alongside veteran Sylvain Armand. He scored his first goal of the season on 11 September 2010 in a 4–0 victory over Arles-Avignon. In Europe, Sakho captained the team in their 5–4 aggregate victory over Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League playoff round. He accomplished this feat again in the group stage leading the team to a 2–0 victory over Ukrainian club Karpaty Lviv. On 16 October, Sakho scored the game-winning goal in a 2–0 victory over Toulouse. In the team's first match following the winter break, he scored his third goal of the campaign in Paris Saint-Germain's victory over Sochaux. After a prolonged period of negotiations, on 8 March 2011, Sakho signed a two-year contract extension with the club until June 2014. On 20 April, he captained the team to a 3–1 victory over Angers in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France. The victory inserted the club into the 2011 Coupe de France Final; the club's second consecutive appearance in the competition's final match. Paris Saint-Germain lost the match 1–0 to Lille. On 10 May, Sakho was nominated for the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Young Player of the Year award. Two weeks later, he won the honour. Sakho was also named to the organization's Team of the Year alongside club teammate Nenê.
Sakho began the 2011–12 season as the club's first-choice captain under Kombouaré. On 13 August 2011, in the club's second league match of the season, he suffered a hamstring injury. Despite initially being ruled out for three weeks, Sakho missed two months and returned to the team in its 3–1 away win over Ajaccio. He remained a fixture in the team for the rest of the autumn campaign as PSG finished the first half of the league in first-place position. In January 2012, Kombouaré resigned from his position. He was replaced by Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti. Under the helm of Ancelotti, Sakho retained the captaincy and appeared as a starter through March. However, after unconvincing performances in draws with Lyon, Caen, and Bordeaux, which resulted in the club losing its grip on first place, the captain was benched by Ancelotti and stripped of the captaincy. Ancelotti based Sakho's benching on the increased competition in the squad as the Italian preferred the central duo of Milan Biševac and Alex. Sakho was also questioned by club director Leonardo for being "slightly overweight".
After making a cameo appearance in the Le Classique, Sakho made his second appearance since his benching on 29 April 2012 appearing as a first-half substitute for the injured Biševac against fellow title contenders Lille. In the second half, with Les Parisiens leading 1–0, Sakho conceded a penalty after fouling striker Nolan Roux. The foul also resulted in a red card. Lille converted the penalty and later went on to win the match 2–1.
On 26 May 2013, in PSG's final game of the season having already won the league, Sakho came on as an emergency goalkeeper for the final seven minutes against Lorient after substitute goalkeeper Ronan Le Crom had been sent off for fouling Julien Quercia to give away a penalty. Arnaud Le Lan converted the penalty, but PSG won 3–1.
Liverpool 2013–2015 On 2 September 2013, Premier League club Liverpool announced the signing of Sakho for a fee of £18 million. He made his debut on 16 September 2013 against Swansea City in a 2–2 draw at the Liberty Stadium. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had described the Frenchman as "a beast in training" prior to his debut. On 7 December 2013, Sakho scored his first goal for Liverpool in a 4–1 win at Anfield against West Ham United. Intermittent injuries limited Sakho to just 19 appearances, however he played a key role in Liverpool's surprise title challenge where they eventually finished as runners-up in the Premier League.
On 27 September 2014, Sakho was left out of the squad for the Merseyside Derby clash against Everton. Upon hearing the manager's decision, he left the stadium. The Frenchman later apologised for his action. After a poor beginning to the season, manager Brendan Rodgers switched to a 3-man defensive line in October – with Sakho playing a crucial part. His pace, athleticism, and ball playing abilities were key in this formation. Sakho returned to the Liverpool team for a 2–2 draw with Arsenal on 22 December 2014 and went on to help the Reds to five clean sheets in eight Premier League matches.
2015–2017