Italian Serie A side AS Roma is reportedly lining up a season-long loan deal for Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho, who is rumored to be in a row with head coach Jürgen Klopp due to professionalism issues.
The 26-year-old center back was recently sent home by the German mentor after successive punctuality violations during trainings and team meetings in their ongoing preseason tour in the United States, which prompted speculations that Mamadou could be bound to exit Liverpool this summer.
Klopp had downplayed the incident, saying that it was "not serious" and that he just want to convey that everybody gets the same treatment in his squad if someone violates the rules.
"It's not that serious. He nearly missed the departure of the plane, he missed a session and was late for a meal," Klopp said, via the Mirror. "We have some rules and we have to respect them."
The 50-year-old bench tactician then said that he does not consider it to be an argument if only one person is talking, and that he was the only one who talked during his confrontation with the France international.
"It is private how he reacted. But we had no argument, it wasn't 'aghh, you, no...'. I spoke. You cannot argue when only one person is speaking. That's all," said Klopp.
Meanwhile, Sakho's agent, Niakate Housseyni, had also denied that there is a rift between his client and the coach and went on to say that Sakho is set to stay at the Anfield next season, as per Caught Offside.
"No, I haven't had any contact with Roma," Niakate Housseyni told a local Italian media outlet. "He didn't have an argument with his manager, Jürgen Klopp."
Roma is speculated to be targeting the 6-foot-2 Paris native after the team's recent acquisition, defender Mario Rui, suffered an ACL injury last Friday, which could make the Portuguese left back unavailable for the entire 2016-2017 season.
"So he'll stay at Liverpool? Yes, he's a Liverpool player. I don't think Roma have that opportunity right now," the agent said.
It remains to be seen whether Sakho will really stay at the Anfield next term, but one thing is certain: Klopp will never lose control of his team even if a high-profile player will act as a primadonna.