Mamadou Sakho

A big set of wheels fit to carry one of the largest and strongest players to grace the Premier League.

Born in Paris, France, to Senegalese parents, he began his footballing career aged six playing for local side Paris FC. In 2002 he was scouted by Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and joined up with their youth system, initially starting out as a striker, he morphed into his position of central-defender by the time he had graduated into the first-team in 2007. He made his senior-team debut a day after his 17th birthday, as PSG went on to beat Greek side AEK Athens in a UEFA Cup Round of 32 fixture on 14 February 2007. Shortly thereafter the defender would sign his first professional contract  on 14 June 2007, and made his Ligue 1 debut in a 0-0 draw against Valeciennes on 20 October 2007. He first established himself in the Les Parisiens first-team during the 2008/09 season, since then the central defender has featured in over 200 occasions for PSG, winning Coupe de la Ligue in 2007/08, Coupe de France in 2009/10, Ligue 1 in 2012/13 and Trophée des Champions in 2013. After a trophy laden career in France, one of Europe's most sought after defender's moved to England to sign for Liverpool FC for a fee of £18 million ahead of the 2013/14 Premier League season. Despite a promising start, the Senegalese international would endure a difficult time at Merseyside, persistent injury setbacks and fallout with managers for not respecting authority on several occasions proved detrimental to his cause, as the centre-back never quite settled into the first-team. Three seasons and 56 Premier League appearances later, it was time to seek opportunities elsewhere, the hard-man from Senegal signed for fellow Premier League club Crystal Palace on 31 August 2017 on a four-year contract for a fee of £25 million. His time with The Eagles has seen him slowly acquaint himself to a new surrounding, building on 19 appearances from his debut season with 27 in his second season at Selhurst Park.