Mamadou Sakho

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…

Youth

Sakho has been active with France at youth level. As early as the age of 13, he began featuring with regional youth sides playing for Île-de-France alongside fellow youth internationals Yacine Brahimi, Tripy Makonda, Maxime Partouche, and Sébastien Corchia. Sakho made his debut for the under-16 team on 21 March 2006 in a friendly match against Germany in a 3–1 victory. He scored his only goal for the team in their 1–0 victory over England in the Montaigu Tournament. France later won the competition defeating Italy 2–1 in the final. With the under-17 team, Sakho made his debut in the team's opening match against Cyprus in an international youth tournament. Midway through the season, Sakho was named captain by coach François Blaquart who noticed the player's leadership skills. Under Sakho's captaincy, the team reached the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and, later, the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup by virtue of their semi-final appearance in the UEFA-sanctioned tournament. At the U-17 World Cup, which was held in South Korea, Sakho captained the team to a quarter-final appearance where they lost to Spain in a penalty shoot-out. Due his increased playing time with his parent club, Sakho only made four appearances with the under-18 team. He made his debut for the team on 18 December 2007 in a friendly match against Portugal and later featured in two friendly matches against Germany, one of which was played at the GAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau in Stuttgart.…

In April 2016, Richard Innes of the Daily Mirror described Sakho as "a defensive maverick; a man who plays by his own rules", who practises an "often highly alternative approach" to defending. A tall and strong defender, in 2013, Steve Hunter highlighted that Sakho's main traits were his tackling ability, work-rate, and leadership, although he also singled out the centre-back for his "physical and tactical qualities." Despite not possessing a particularly good touch on the ball, which led him to be criticised both by pundits and his teams' fans on occasion, he was also a highly competent passer, with Jack Lusby of Bleacher Report describing him as "Liverpool's best and most effective ball-playing centre-back" in 2015. His ball-playing ability, combined with his pace and athleticism, enabled him to excel in a three–man back–line under his Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers during the 2014–15 season.

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.