Chelsea‘s recruitment drive is set to continue with Malang Sarr on the verge of joining the club on a five-year-deal following the expiration of his contract with Ligue 1 side Nice.
The Blues have embarked on an ambitious transfer spree during this summer’s window, buying Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, with Kai Havertz, Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva set to follow.
While the signings of Werner and Ziyech for a combined £85m from RB Leipzig and Ajax respectively and a mooted £90m deal in place to purchase Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen have got Chelsea giddy with excitement, Frank Lampard will be grateful that defenders are now following.
Despite finishing in the Champions League places, Chelsea had the worst defensive record in the top half of the Premier League, conceding 54 goals in total. The imminent arrival of Silva from PSG will add experience and leadership to the back four, while Chilwell represents an upgrade on Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri.
Unlike Silva and Chilwell, Sarr is not expected to command a first-team place at Stamford Bridge straight away. Instead, the 21-year-old is seen as one for the future and it has been reported that he could be loaned out with Borussia Monchengladbach, Leverkusen, Schalke 04 and Real Betis reportedly suitors.
Perhaps due to the uncertainty over his future, Sarr’s form dipped in 2019-20 but he remains a highly-rated prospect in French football and could prove a smart addition for Chelsea if he moves to Stamford Bridge.
Here’s some background on how Sarr emerged in the French Riviera and the qualities he could bring to Chelsea.
Despite only turning 21 in January, Sarr has already amassed considerable experience during his career so far, featuring as a regular starter for Nice in four full seasons dating back to his breakthrough in 2016-17.
In total, Sarr made 119 appearances in Nice’s colours while he has also featured prominently for France at youth level, featuring for Les Bleus at every age group from U16 up until U21. Born in Nice to Senegalese parents, Sarr has announced his intention to represent France internationally at senior level.
Sarr enjoyed a dream start to his career, scoring the winning goal for Nice against Rennes in Ligue 1 on his senior debut at just 17-years-old. From that point onwards, Sarr established himself as a first-team regular in Lucien Favre’s side, playing a significant role as the club came third in Ligue 1, their best finish in 40 years.
In the subsequent three campaigns, Sarr has continued to be a consistent presence in Nice’s backline, although he found himself out-of-favour, at times under Patrick Vieira in 2019-20.
Nevertheless, he remains a highly-rated young defender, in part due to his composure in possession. Over the past four seasons, Sarr’s pass accuracy rate has never dipped below 89 per cent and a feature of his game is pinpoint crossfield balls sprayed from his position on the left to the opposite flank.
Unlike his U21 colleague Dayot Upamecano, Sarr doesn’t often go on slaloming runs from the back but he is very comfortable in possession and often drives into midfield before passing it to a teammate. Sarr’s ability in possession is typical of a modern defender and is why he can double up effectively as a left-back.
Sarr’s ability to play either at centre-back or left-back makes him ideally suited to playing on the left of a back three, a system that Lampard used on numerous occasions last term.
While Sarr is a good technical player, there are question marks over his defensive qualities. At 5’9, Sarr isn’t physically imposing for a central defender and that is reflected by the fact he won fewer aerial duels (14) than he lost (16) in Ligue 1 last season.
Sarr has also been prone to lapses in concentration too. Since his breakthrough in 2016-17, only one outfield player – Amiens SC defender Prince-Désir Gouano – has committed more errors leading to shots (12) in Ligue 1 than Sarr (11).
Although Sarr would not slot straight into Chelsea’s backline, he has the tools to become a leading Premier League defender in the future with the right coaching. On a free transfer, he represents a no-brainer.
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