Barclays Premier League side Liverpool have decided to turn down advances from Bayer Leverkusen for defender Mamadou Sakho, Sky Sports sources have suggested.  

Italian side Roma and other teams around Europe are also said to be interested in the former Paris Saint-Germain defender but Liverpool seem unwilling to sell the Frenchman. He is yet to make an appearance for the Reds this season as the partnership of Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren seems to be preferred by Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers.

Leverkusen will look to sign Sakho for around £7m as they aim to strengthen their defence, while attempting to advance into the Champions League group stage. They do face an uphill task as they lost the first-leg to Lazio in Rome, 1-0. It was also reported that Roma have already had a loan bid rejected for the 25-year-old.

Sakho, who can play centre-back as well as left-back, signed for the Merseyside club in 2013 for £16 and  made 19 appearances in his first season, scoring once in the process. A year later, he featured a total of 28 times in all competitions. The 25-year-old made his France international debut in 2010 and has 26 caps for Les Blues, scoring two goals.

A busy summer for die Werkself

Bayer have already brought in three defenders during the summer transfer window. André Ramalho Silva from Austrian side, Red Bull SalzburgKyriakos Papadopoulos from Bundesliga rivals Schalke 04 and Jonathan Tah from Hamburger SV have all joined the squad. Admir Memhedi has also arrived, the Swiss attacker transferred from relegated SC Freiburg

Sakho, if signed would help out Bayer's defensive problems. Turkish international Ömer Toprak and Croatia defender Tin Jedvaj are both injured. He would also boost Leverkusen's defensive options after Emir Spahic was sacked after a fracas with a steward last season. Fellow defender Philipp Wollscheid left for Premier League team Stoke City after a successful loan spell.

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About the author
Daniel Jefferson
Hull City fan, Journalism at the University of Lincoln.