Transfer deadline day ended for Liverpool with the departure, on loan, of French international Mamadou Sakho to Premier League Crystal Palace for the remainder of the season.
Mamadou Sakho leaves Liverpool for Crystal Palace for the rest of the season
The Liverpool defender fell out with Jurgen Klopp over the summer and missed the end of last season, including the Europa League final, after 'violating an anti-doping rule' - a case which FIFA later dropped after concluding that the 'fat-burner' wasn't on any banned list.
Just last summer Sakho received a promotion of sorts - being handed the number 3 shirt - an upgrade on the number 17 shirt he previously wore. But it all went wrong on a pre-season tour of the United States when the player was sent home after failing to follow 'team rules'.
At the time Klopp said:
“It’s not that serious. He missed the departure of the plane, he missed a session and then was late for a meal … I have to build a group here, I have to start anew, so I thought it maybe made sense that he flew home to Liverpool and after eight days, when we come back, we can talk about it.
“But it’s not that serious. It is how I said, we have some rules and we have to respect them. If somebody doesn’t respect it, or somebody gives me the feeling he is not respecting it, then I have to react, that’s all.”
Sakho hasn't played a competitive game since this despite the club suffering defensive injuries which has meant calling on Lucas Leiva for centre-back duties.
Although a Sakho exit has been on the cards for a while - the reds had wanted a sale and a fee in the region of £20M in this window.
But Crystal Palace, who are in a relegation fight, have taken the player for the remainder of the season.
Liverpool receive a £2M loan fee and Crystal Palace will pay the players wages until the end of May.