If Mamadou Sakho's attachment to Paris still suffered from a lack of evidence, that should dispel all doubts.
While Montpellier HSC and its players were back to school this Monday, June 27, the Héraultais were able to update a certain amount of information for next season.
Among them, the change of number of Mamadou Sakho, which went from 3 to 75, like the number of the department of the city of Paris where he is from.
.@mamadousakho has just changed number in Montpellier and opted for 75, his birth department!
#Sakho #PSG pic.twitter.com/SKwVKYrLlt
— Romain Collet-Gaudin (@RomainCG75) June 27, 2022
The LFP lifts the ban on "fantasy" numbers
A change as a nod to its roots which was made by taking advantage of a breach opened this summer by the LFP, which changed its regulations concerning the numbering of players from the 2022-23 season.
Previously, article 576 of the statutes and regulations of the LFP stipulated that only numbers 1 to 30 could be distributed by a team to its players "likely to play in the first team", exceptionally authorizing an exemption in the event of overrun but above all prohibiting "Fancy numbers", such as 45 or 82. Last season, we were able to see these derogations implemented for Gianluigi Donnarumma, number 50 at PSG, or Paul Bernardoni, who inherited this same number when he signed in Saint-Étienne in January.
This limitation has been lifted by the LFP, which therefore now allows all players to “use numbers ranging from 1 to 99”.
It is moreover this last number that another Montpellier resident, Wahbi Khazri, chose, who signed up with the Hérault club on Monday and therefore became, as the club pointed out, "the first player of the history of MHSC to bear the number 99”.
Ligue 1 is thus on the page compared to other championships, which already authorized this type of numbering.
The best known example being the Italian Serie A, where we have already seen in the past a Ronaldo n°99, a Ronaldinho n°80, a Mario Balotelli n°45 or even a Jérémy Menez n°94.
Born and trained in Paris, at the PFC then at PSG, Mamadou Sakho returned to the French Championship last summer after 8 seasons in England, at Liverpool then at Crystal Palace.
