Amid all the excitement at Stamford Bridge last summer, one new signing flew a little under the radar.
Chelsea snapped up French centre-back Malang Sarr on a free transfer after his contract with Nice expired and immediately shipped him out on loan to Porto to continue his development, in a move which was supposed to give Sarr the high-level experience he needed to compete for a spot at the Bridge.
Has he got that? Well, sort of.
Sarr has managed 19 appearances for Porto this season, 15 of which have come as a starter. They’re some solid minutes, although when you consider he has already failed to feature in 17 games, you’ll see how this marriage hasn’t exactly worked out.
Now, Record (via Sport Witness) state Sarr hasn’t done enough to convince Porto to push for his signature on a permanent basis, and the 22-year-old wouldn’t want to stay anyway. His sights are set on Chelsea, and that might just be a good thing.
Chelsea have been planning to sign a young, experienced centre-back this summer, but the problem is that a lot of them now look to be unavailable.
Dayot Upamecano is joining Bayern Munich and Ibrahima Konate looks like he’s off to Liverpool, Atletico Madrid want close to £100m for Jose Gimenez and the hail-mary pursuit of David Alaba looks to be fruitless.
Sure, the list isn’t exhausted just yet. Niklas Sule, Jules Kounde, Pau Torres…there are plenty around, but we are now looking at targets that were lower on the priority lists or big-money signings which would only be made in panic (hello, Kepa Arrizabalaga). When the plan is to spend over £100m on Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, you can’t really afford to splash out on a centre-back you don’t really want.
That’s where Sarr comes in.
While Sarr hasn’t set the world on fire this season, reports suggest he has been solid. He’s actually only lost three times this season, two of which were against Manchester City and Juventus in the Champions League.
Regularly deployed as either a left-sided centre-back or a left-back, Sarr has done a decent job when called upon by Sergio Conceicao, but most importantly, he’s picked up experience in the same kind of positions he may be needed for in Thomas Tuchel’s squad.
A left-sided (or rather left-footed) defender has been lacking at Chelsea this season. We’ve seen Emerson deployed centrally at times to counter that, so it’s clear that Tuchel is keen to try everything to sort that position out.
With Emerson rumoured to be heading for the exit door, Sarr should be considered as an option to come in and cover for the starters. He can be drip-fed experience and moulded into a regular starter.
To say Sarr is ready for a permanent starting spot would be a stretch. He’s impressive in possession but has been guilty of lapses in concentration more than once over the last few years. He was lambasted after a recent horror show against Braga (the only non-European loss he has tasted this year), and that’s not the first time we’ve seen him lose his composure.
Fortunately, playing in a back three offers a little extra stability. We’ve seen Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, two of the most error-prone defenders in England last season, turn into stars in Tuchel’s back three, and the boss could have the same impact with Sarr.
Sarr isn’t the finished product just yet, but he fits the bill as a young, experienced centre-back. He’s the kind of player Chelsea want to sign, so why spend money when he’s already on the books?
Tuchel will have his work cut out for him with Sarr and his lapses of concentration, but you’d have said the same with Christensen and Rudiger. They’ve looked like two of the best defenders in Europe in 2021, and Sarr could benefit just the same.
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