Former Crystal Palace defender Madamou Sakho has announced that he has retired from playing professional football at the age of 35.
Popularly nicknamed ‘The Soldier’, Sakho joined Palace on loan from Liverpool in January 2017, collecting the club’s Player of the Month award in March and helping to secure safety with several significant clean sheets.
He then signed a permanent deal in August 2017 and went on to play a total of 75 times for Palace over a span of four-and-a-half years, before departing for Ligue 1 side Montpellier Hérault SC.
Prior to his spell in South London, the Paris-born centre-back captained his hometown club Paris Saint-Germain to Ligue 1 success, before moving to Anfield in 2013. In his first season, playing alongside Victor Moses, he came close to earning a Premier League winners’ medal.
Renowned for his strong defending – and adventurous runs with the ball from the back – Sakho also won 29 caps for France and featured for his country at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Sakho announced his retirement on the pitch at Parc des Princes, prior to PSG’s surprise French Cup defeat to Paris FC last night.
Everyone at Crystal Palace wishes Mamadou well for his next chapter.
