William Gallas talks of sadness over Mamadou Sakho's Liverpool departure

Former Arsenal and Chelsea defender William Gallas has told of his sadness at seeing compatriot Mamadou Sakho leave Liverpool for Crystal Palace, and says it is a "shame" that things did not work out for the former Paris Saint-Germain star at Anfield.

Sakho, 27, was frozen out of the first-team set-up by Jurgen Klopp last summer after infuriating the Reds boss on a pre-season tour of America and eventually completed a permanent move away from Merseyside on deadline day when he signed for Crystal Palace in a deal believed to be worth £26m after impressing on loan.

The Frenchman made his return from a nasty injury in Palace's 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup in midweek and will be hoping to keep his place for the visit of high-flying Manchester City on Saturday (23 September).

Sakho is a very popular figure at Selhurst Park, but Gallas, who enjoyed a rather successful stint in England, is sad Sakho could not build on his encouraging start under Klopp at Liverpool and believes he could have achieved great things with the Reds.

"You've got to remember that when he first arrived, he was one of Klopp's favourite," he told SFR Sport, relayed by Football365. "I just think Klopp is the kind of guy that if you do the same thing three times, that's it.

"It's a shame because I feel like Mama had everything to explode at Liverpool. He was loved by the fans."

Sakho was crucial to Crystal Palace staving off relegation last season, and he will have to hit the same standards this season if Roy Hodgson's side are to have any chance of repeating their exploits.

The Eagles are yet to score a goal in the league this season, and their chances of turning their campaign around are rather slim against City, who have scored 15 goals in their last three games, one of them being a 5-0 mauling of Liverpool.