“Malang Sarr arrive à Chelsea… avant d’être prêté.”
The French newspapers were filled with this headline in the early hours of yesterday morning. “Malang Sarr arrives at Chelsea, but shall be loaned immediately” – something which created a new tremor in the transfer market. Fabrizio Romano also confirmed Sarr’s imminent move to London.
Sarr is an academy graduate from French club OGC Nice. Despite being just 21, the centre-back has made over 100 appearances for his boyhood club which spreads out to three full seasons as a professional.
But, in an interesting turn of events, the Frenchman decided to see out his current contract with the Ligue 1 club. Since June 2020, he has been a free agent with a bundle of interest coming in from French as well as foreign teams.
Everything You Need to Know About Chelsea Bound Malang Sarr
The French Background
There was a lot of talk about Sarr choosing between Senegalese roots and French residency back in 2016. He was even approached by the Senegalese Football Association for a spot in the Under-18 side.
The central defender chose to stick with the French youth team, however, with whom he had played in the Under-16 and Under-17 levels back in 2014. Sarr rightfully dreams about achieving great things with the French national side in the future.
A move to Chelsea could benefit the youngster in his French ambitions, too. The current Blues’ squad boasts the likes of World Cup winning pair of N’Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud. Sarr can also have a healthy battle for a first team role with fellow Frenchman Kurt Zouma.
How Does Malang Sarr Compare to the Current Chelsea Backline?
Malang Sarr had fairly less playing time last season. This was primarily because the Ligue 1 season was suspended early, in addition to a few injury problems which reduced his game time.
The Frenchman does have some interesting statistics compared to the current crop of Chelsea defenders though. The 21-year-old stands just second to Antonio Rudiger when it comes to progressive distance covered. The progressive distance covered denotes how much a player has progressed with the ball towards the opponent’s goal (in yards). It’s also an important metric when judging defenders in the modern game.
Sarr travelled a progressive distance of 193 yards every 90 minutes in Ligue 1 last season. This is only second to Antonio Rudiger in the Chelsea defence(202 yards). Whereas, the Frenchman topples the figures of Andreas Christensen (170) and Kurt Zouma (165) by a mile.
The ex-Nice centre-back also had a 90% passing success rate, which is better than Kurt Zouma’s (89%) and Antonio Rudiger’s (87%) figures from last season.
Future With Chelsea
It is an interesting squad selection headache that Frank Lampard is going to face next season should Malang Sarr decide to join.
Lampard’s camp currently boasts the likes of Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori as the primary choice for a central role in the back-line. The London club is almost certain of bringing in Thiago Silva, who is a free agent now after his long term stint with Paris Saint-Germain.
With all these heavyweights already vying for a first team role, it seems likely that Sarr could be loaned out by the Premier League club upon his potential arrival. Nevertheless, Sarr has three full seasons under the age of 21 and tier one experience of French football.
A season-long loan and Sarr could transform himself into the new face of the Chelsea’s defensive line in the future should he complete a move.
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