“Truth always takes the stairs and the lie takes the elevator” - Mamadou Sakho opens up on Liverpool exit under Jurgen Klopp

Former Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho has opened up on his exit from the Anfield-based club after Jurgen Klopp banished him from the first team. He has claimed that the German tactician targeted him for coming in three minutes late for a meal.

Speaking to LiverpoolECHO, Sakho stated that he does not have any ill feelings toward Klopp but believes that the manager used excuses to throw him out of the club. The Frenchman said:

"Small things are always good to take as an excuse. But the reality wasn't this. But it's fine, you know? But seriously, because a player is late to eat, the time's 7.15 and he comes at 7.18, now he leaves the club? Come on. What I wrote (on Snapchat) was the truth. But the truth always takes the stairs and the lie takes the elevator."

Mamadou Sakho took shots at Klopp in a series of posts on Snapchat in 2016 and stated that the manager was not letting him play. In the posts, Sakho had claimed that although he had been fit for nearly a month, he wasn't allowed to play even for the second team.

"You have few things inside but they cannot talk about it" - Former Liverpool star Mamadou Sakho on his feelings about the incident

Mamadou Sakho left Liverpool in January 2017 on loan to Crystal Palace before joining the Eagles permanently that summer. He joined Montpellier in 2021 before moving to Georgian club Torpedo Kutaisi in June 2024 after leaving the French side in November 2023.

Explaining why he hasn't talked about the altercation with Klopp previously, Sakho said (via LiverpoolECHO):

"You have football that people see, and you have few things inside but they cannot talk about it. So, I always keep it for me as a man and that's it. I never talk and I would not speak for the moment because it's not important. I really enjoy my time in Liverpool."

"Yeah, it was a really great moment for me in my career. And that's it. I told you, I'm a positive man. So I don't like to speak about the inside of football, you know? I will speak about it one day, of course. Of course, one day I will speak. But not now, it is not the right moment. When I do my documentary of my career and of my life, all the truth will go out in that moment, just for fun.”

Mamadou Sakho played 201 matches for PSG in his career before moving to Liverpool in 2013, where he played 80 matches.