Liverpool Load Up On Muslim Defenders

By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Liverpool secured the services of two prominent Muslim defenders over the past week. Most recently, on transfer deadline day, they signed French defender Mamadou Sakho from Paris Saint-Germain for a reported £18million. Earlier in the week, Liverpool obtained French defender Ally Cissokho on a season-long loan from Spanish club Valencia. However, Cissokho subsequently injured his ankle and will be out for six weeks. Cissokho joins another recently-acquired Muslim defender on the injury list, as Ivory Coast central defender Kolo Toure is also out for a couple of weeks after some impressive early play.

Sakho played 201 games for PSG, securing the Ligue 1 title with the capital club last season to add to winners’ medals for the 2010 Coupe de France and the 2008 Coupe de la Ligue. The 23-year-old Sakho can play both central defense as well as left-back. He has won 14 caps for the French national team. “I’m delighted to be here,” he told Liverpool’s website. “I’d like to thank everyone for the welcome. I came here because the project that is in place at Liverpool interests me. I’m really looking forward to playing my first game. I’m really looking forward to cracking on with work and I can’t wait to get on (the) pitch. I know the Liverpool fans are fantastic and while I was in France, it was clear for me to see they are amongst the best in England.”

Once Cissokho returns to the pitch he is expected to give Jose Enrique competition at the left back position. And should the season-long loan spell go well, an agreement is reportedly already in place for a permanent deal.

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