Ismaila Sarr will not be fit to face former transfer suitors Liverpool this weekend as the Crystal Palace forward continues to struggle with a groin injury

Ismaila Sarr has often been the scourge of Liverpool, but he will not be this weekend when the Reds travel to Selhurst Park.

The Senegalese has been ruled out because of a groin issue, with Eagles boss Pierre Sage admitting that Palace will have to make do without the forward until after the international break.

It has admittedly been a frustrating season to date for Sarr, with his campaign yet to get going after he saw a late summer move to Liverpool blocked by Palace bosses.

The 28-year-old, who boasts seven goals and two assists from 10 meetings with the Reds, enjoyed a career-best campaign last time out for Palace as he scored a career-best 21 goals from 45 appearances to help fire them to UEFA Conference League glory.

But while he was Palace’s star man last season, this season he has been anything but. A recurring groin issue has limited the Senegal international to just five appearances, while he has made only two substitute outings in the Premier League - totalling just 15 minutes.

With Palace currently in the Premier League relegation zone, behind struggling Manchester United on goal difference alone, the Eagles could not only do with the return of Sarr but for him to be back fit and firing also, to recapture the form that attracted the interest of Liverpool in the first place.

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After missing out on Yan Diomande, Sarr was one of the Reds’ targets as they looked to further bolster their attacking options following the departure of Mohamed Salah and bring in a new right-winger.

But while they were successful in their pursuits of Bradley Barcola and Victor Munoz, they ultimately decided against further pursuing either Sarr or Yankubu Minteh, having had a £50m offer rejected for the former, and opted to retain Cody Gakpo’s services instead.

Sarr’s representative, Diomansy Kamara, made public his unhappiness with the situation in a series of posts on social media, while Sage acknowledged at the time that it had been difficult for Sarr to be denied what would have been a dream move.

Palace chairman Steve Parish would later take aim at Liverpool, accusing them of undervaluing the player when speaking about their

"It's unfortunate with Ismaila, but that wasn't really a situation that was of our doing," he told the Athletic. "A club (Liverpool) came in and, with the amount of money they bid, they couldn't seriously think in that market it was going to get done at that level.

“And then they didn't come back in for him. If you're selling players for £90m and then you want to bid us half of that for the replacement, it's fine, you can do it. I'm not criticising anybody for doing it. But it's not going to happen.

"You could understand Ismaila would have liked to go and if it wasn't five days before the end of the window and the money was right, then we would have tried to facilitate it.

"I don't care what (Kamara) thinks in the context of accusations against us. If any football club gets a bid for their top scorer five days before the end of a transfer window, that's going to be a difficult deal to get done.

"I would say to those representatives that the good ones would be managing those expectations with the player and not making it everybody else's fault. It's their job to get that bid earlier.

"They get paid by the player and the club and are there to help everybody oil the wheels. It doesn't help anybody when you go in the media and make unfounded accusations."

Sage has since claimed that talks are ongoing regarding a new contract for Sarr, with an agreement edging closer despite him still having two and a half years left on his current deal.

In truth, it would perhaps be a surprise if Liverpool were to reignite their interest in Sarr now regardless, who had previously been a target for the Reds when they instead opted to sign the late Diogo Jota from Wolves in 2020.

Set to turn 29 in February, he fits outside the club’s preferred transfer model. And while in the summer he was coming off the back of the best season of his career, the narrative looks rather different after an injury-plagued first half of the current campaign.

While Liverpool were arguably backed into a corner late on in the summer when making their enquiries, they ultimately decided to take a step back, regroup and reconsider their options when not pursuing Sarr further.

Given that Barcola, Gakpo, Munoz and Rio Ngumoha have all looked promising on the right at times, such a decision has been more than justified.

Had the Senegalese been fit to face the Reds on Sunday, supporters would have still no doubt been left wondering what might have been - especially if Sarr had added to his eye-catching record against Liverpool.

Instead, with the forward again sidelined, it is further evidence that the Reds made the right transfer call.

Moving to Anfield would have been a dream for Sarr. But as his frustrating campaign continues, it is one that looks set to now remain unfulfilled.