Crystal Palace announced in the early hours of Friday morning the return of Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho in a deal worth £26m.
Sakho spent the second half of last season on loan at Selhurst Park and was a major contributor to the club successfully avoiding relegation from the Premier League.
The Eagles have been desperate to land the former France international all summer but any deal looked off the table as Liverpool were demanding £30m.
However, Frank de Boer’s side made a breakthrough in negotiations on Thursday and managed to reach a compromise with Liverpool to sign the 27-year-old for £26m.
Palace have also agreed to match his £120,000-a-week wages and the hope now is that Sakho can help kickstart the club’s season after a poor month of results in August.
“I am really excited about playing for the Palace fans again, but in football the past is the past and you need to think about today and tomorrow,” Sakho told the club’s official website.
“Last year we did a good job and we need to prove that again and have a good objective. If we put all of our power together, we will have a great season.”
Since the start of January, Palace have won 62.5% of their Premier League matches with Sakho in the starting XI compared to just 20% when Sakho has not been available for selection.
