Andros Townsend urges Crystal Palace to wrap up Mamadou Sakho deal with Liverpool

Crystal Palace winger Andros Townsend has urged club chairman Steve Parish to wrap up a deal for Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho on a permanent basis as soon as possible.

Sakho, 27, has swiftly settled in south east London since joining Sam Allardyce's side on loan during the January transfer window. The Eagles are now edging ever closer to securing their Premier League status for another season after a huge 3-0 win over Arsenal on Monday (10 April) pushed them six points clear of the relegation zone, with the France international again playing an instrumental role at the back.

Keeping out Arsenal meant Palace have now kept four clean sheets in the six matches Sakho has started in. The former Paris Saint-Germain starlet recently suggested in an interview with Telefoot he is keen to return to Anfield when his loan expires, but appears to be enjoying life at Palace.

According to the Liverpool Echo, the Merseyside club believe they can demand a fee of £30m (€35.2m) for the defender this summer – and Townsend is hoping Palace are striving to extend his stay beyond next season.

"Obviously I am not the chairman but you have seen the impact he has had since he's come in," Sakho was quoted as saying by London News Online post-match. "He's been incredible, I think It's four clean sheets.

"When the ball is coming into the box, he seems to be a magnet for it and it gives us great confidence knowing that if they do manage to get a cross in, he's going to be there to clear it away.

"He's an incredible player and we should do all we can, if we survive, to keep him here next season."

Sakho did not play a single minute of first-team football during the first-half of the 2016-17 campaign. He was frozen out of the first team by Jurgen Klopp, an exile which stemmed from an incident during the club's pre-season tour of the United States where he was sanctioned for failing to show up on time for team meetings.