Sakho not part of Liverpool's first-team plans

Mamadou Sakho's career at Liverpool appears to be over after manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed the defender is not part of his first-team plans.

France international Sakho has not played for Liverpool this season despite returning to fitness in September.

UEFA announced Sakho had failed a drugs test back in April, but the charges against him were dropped in July after he served a provisional ban, missing Liverpool's Europa League final defeat and Euro 2016.

The former Paris Saint-Germain centre-back was then sent home from a pre-season tour of the United States, with Klopp revealing Sakho had nearly missed their flight to San Francisco, missed a training session and was late for a team meal.

Sakho accused Liverpool of using his fitness as an excuse for his exile from the first team in a social media outburst in September.

And Sakho will likely now have to move elsewhere to secure first-team football.

Klopp said ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash with Bournemouth that he had "absolutely no thought to sell any player from the first-team squad" in the January transfer window.

But when asked about Sakho, he replied: "Nothing has changed.

"He is not in [my] plans for the first team. The first-team squad is here [at Melwood]. You know all this."