Mamadou Sakho: Liverpool defender sent home from pre-season tour, future in doubt
Reports suggest Jurgen Klopp had grown tired of the defender's attitude during the Reds' tour
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Your support makes all the difference.Mamadou Sakho’s Liverpool future hangs in the balance after Jurgen Klopp sent the defender home from America.
The France international will arrive back in the UK on Tuesday after Klopp made the decision to cut short his stay.
Speculation has emerged over the circumstances surrounding Sakho’s early departure.
The defender has been receiving treatment for an Achilles injury, which is expected to rule him out for the start of the Premier League, and it’s believed Klopp decided that the Frenchman must continue his rehabilitation back at Melwood training ground.
Despite being injured, Sakho was included in the travelling party to America as Klopp sought to foster team spirit of ahead of the new campaign, the Liverpool Echo reports.
However, it’s also understood that the Reds boss has grown impatient with the Frenchman’s attitude during the pre-season tour.
Sakho turned up late for Liverpool’s flight to the United States while last weekend he interrupted an interview Klopp was conducting with the club website.
The German jokingly threatened to leave Sakho behind on Alcatraz Island but it’s believed the relationship between the two has since deteriorated, prompting Klopp to take disciplinary action against his defender.
Liverpool have declined to comment on the incident, other than to confirm that Sakho has returned home to the UK.
This follows a turbulent period for the France international who was cleared of a doping violation by Uefa earlier this month.
The governing body’s control, ethics and disciplinary body dropped the charge against him after Sakho’s legal team successfully argued that he had not taken any illegal substances.
He had been hit with a three month suspension at the end of last season which saw him miss out on Liverpool’s Europa League final against Sevilla as well as Euro 2016.
But despite being cleared of the offence, it seems there could be more troubled times ahead for Sakho.
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