Jurgen Klopp has sent a kind public message to Mamadou Sakho, following the announcement and apology from WADA regarding his drugs ban in 2016.
The Frenchman didn’t break any rules, but was ruled out of the Europa League Final that we lost to Sevilla.
At the time, he was a crucial part of our team and was playing fantastically – so who would have known what may have happened if he’d been in the starting XI that night.
“My initial thought was ‘finally!’” Klopp said, reported in the Echo.
“We all knew it for a long time already that Mama did nothing wrong. It was a massive, massive blow.
“Not only couldn’t he play the Europa League final, but he couldn’t play in the Euros as well if I’m not mistaken.
“I’m really happy for Mama that he got at least now the evidence that he did nothing wrong and it’s a very important thing.”
Klopp and Sakho did have some kind of falling out and the centre-back fell out of favour at Anfield and was eventually sold to Crystal Palace for almost £30m.
It was a good sale, in the end, but we still have a soft spot for the defender.
He was a lovely guy and we think it’s desperately unfair what happened to him. Sadly, it’s been four years since the ban, which cannot be returned.