Mamadou Sakho

Mamadou Sakho (born 13 February 1990) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre back.

He most recently played for Ligue 1 club Montpellier.

Sakho began his career at Paris FC before moving to Paris Saint-Germain's youth system in 2002.

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.

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.

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.

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 Valeciennes 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 play the full 90 minutes in the Paris Saint-Germain'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 that season, Sakho made 16 appearances.

Since making his senior debut in 2010 against England, Sakho has over 25 caps and represented France at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

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.

Sakho started his football career at the age of six playing for the juniors of hometown club Paris FC.

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.

Sakho is a full France international, who has previously earned caps and captained the nation at all youth levels.