Report: Liverpool demands Sakho go on loan to save career at Anfield

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It's reportedly do-or-die time for Mamadou Sakho's future at Liverpool.

According to James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo, Liverpool is telling Sakho he must go on loan to save his career at Anfield. However, the French centre-back apparently rejected the chance to join both Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion, even though the Reds, per Sky Sports, accepted an offer from the Potters.

Liverpool is allegedly looking to loan out Sakho before the summer transfer window closes on Wednesday, as Jurgen Klopp informed the defender that he must prove himself elsewhere amid concerns over fitness and professionalism. The 24-year-old finds himself behind Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip, and Ragnar Klavan in the Reds' pecking order.

While recovering from an Achilles injury that ruled him out of the start of the 2016-17 Premier League season, Sakho was sent home from Liverpool's pre-season tour of North America. "He nearly missed the departure of Liverpool (on the plane from Liverpool to San Francisco), he missed a training session, and was late for a team meal," Klopp later explained.

But fitness and professional aren't the only things to have marred Sakho's career this year. He was deprived of playing at Euro 2016 as well as in the 2015-16 Europa League final because of an anti-doping rule violation that the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body ultimately dismissed. The violation was reportedly the result of a "fat burner."